Pages from the History of Narekatsiology

Abstract

The life and work of Saint Grigor Narekatsi, the Ecumenical Archimandrite, great poet and thinker, has long been the focus of Armenian scholars and researchers. Indeed, a truly distinctive and multilayered field of Armenian studies and medieval studies has been formed, rich in theological, philosophical, historical, philological, musicological and valuable works. However, Narekatsi studies have been predominantly within the “classical” framework. A comparative study of the works of a saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, a great representative of Armenian medieval literature and a classic of world literature (F. M. Dostoevsky, Jalal al-Din Rumi and other Sufi authors) began in the second half of the 20th century. The article presents the most acute narekatsiological discussion that unfolded in the last century about the conformity or inconsistency of spiritual and artistic heritage to the ideological framework of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church and the Universal Christian Church (about possible and impossible relations with the Tondrakid movement, about the relationship between mysticism and humanism). The article also highlights the influence of discourses concerning the “Eastern Renaissance” on the subsequent progression of narekatsiological studies, as well as the refutation of the theories of Sh. Nutsubidze, N. Conrad, V. Chaloyan (as scientific “clichés” of the Soviet era), as well as the unique contribution of Prof. Levon Mkrtchyan (who played a unique role in the translation and promotion of Armenian literature and culture) and Prof. Poghos Khachatryan (a prominent researcher of medieval Armenian manuscripts), who were at the origin of comparative manuscript studies.