From Ethnography to Cultural Anthropology: on the Issue of the Boundaries of Social Sciences in Armenia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/hc.2025.si1.304Keywords:
Armenian ethnography, Yervand Lalayan, cultural anthropology, ethnographic questionnaire, Soviet ethnography, culturology, cultural studiesAbstract
This article explores the ongoing disciplinary transition from ethnography to anthropology in post-Soviet Armenia—a process marked by considerable inconsistency and debate. The challenge of naming the discipline that studies the cultural characteristics of various groups emerged even during its initial development. Armenian intellectuals of the late 19th century participated in these discussions, often aligning with terminology and frameworks adopted in European academic traditions. However, the Soviet era imposed the term “ethnography” on the discipline in Armenia, a designation that has persisted into the post-Soviet period. This continuity has led to significant challenges both domestically and internationally.
In global social sciences, “ethnography” is widely understood as a research method—primarily fieldwork—rather than a standalone discipline. Meanwhile, the discipline with similar content is better known as socio-cultural anthropology. This discrepancy complicates the external representation of Armenian academia and its institutional structure. Domestically, the term adds confusion, as it is often equated with the mission of preserving traditional culture, overshadowing its broader theoretical and methodological scope.
The article aims to stimulate a critical discussion on the urgent need to reform and modernize the Armenian system of social sciences, including updating terminologies to align with international standards and accurately reflect the evolving content of the field.
References
Bayadyan 2015 – Bayadyan H., Mshakut’abanut’yun yev/kam mshakut’ayin usumnasirut’yunner, Hetk’, 2015, marti 16 https://hetq.am/hy/article/59063 (in Armenian)
Lalayeyan 1896a – Lalayean Yer., Hratarakch’its’, Azgagrakan handes, 1896, Girk’ A, ej 5-6 (in Armenian)
Lalayeyan 1896b – Lalayean Yer., Hamarrot Tesut’yun hay azgagrut’yan, Azgagrakan handes, 1896, Girk’ A, ej 7-26 (in Armenian)
Lippert 1908 – Lippert Y. Koylturi patmut’iwn, Masn yerkrord, Eminean azgagrakan zhoghovatsu, h. E, 1908, ej 1-221 (in Armenian)
Kanonadrut’iwn 1906 – Kanonadrut’iwn hayots’ azgagrakan ynkerut’ean, Azgagrakan Handes, Girk’ , T’iflis, 1906, ej 186-195 (in Armenian)
Melik’-P’ashayan, Nazinyan 1988 - Melik’-P’ashayan K.V., Nazinyan A.M., Yervand Lalayani kyank’n u gitakan gortsuneut’yuny, Yer. Lalayan, Yerker, h. I, Yerevan. Haykakan SSH, GAA hratarakch’ut’yun, 1988, ej 7-31 (in Armenian)
Shagoyan, 2024 – Shagoyan G., Inch’pes yen kapvum yarkhushtan, «Sasna tsrrer»-n u hazarasheny. azgayin patumi dzevavorumy khorhrdayin ardiakanats’man nakhagtsum, Ashnak gyughi orinakov», khmb. T. Dalalyan, «Pari tsisakan yev banahyusakan yent’atek’sty» gitazhoghov, nvirvats Gagik Ginosyani hishatakin, 27-29 septemberi, Yerevan, HAI hrat., 2024, ej 70-74 (in Armenian)
Shterrnberg 1908 - Shterrnberg L., Azgagrut’iwn, Eminean azgagrakan hades, 1908, h. E, ej 1-36 (in Armenian)
Patmut’yunner-1 2001 - L. Abrahamyan, A. Gulyan, H. Kharratyan, H. Marut’yan, H. Petrosyan, H. Pikich’yan. Patmut’yunner aghk’atut’yan masin, Yer., «Lusakn» hrat., 2001, 432 ej (in Armenian)
Petri 1896 – Petri E. Mardabanut’ean patmakan zargats’umy, Azgagrakan handes, Girk’ A, 1896, ej 3-52 (in Armenian)
Abrahamian 2014 – Abrahamian L., Od współczesności XIX wieku do współczesności wieku XXI, pod redakcją Lewona Abrahamiana I Konrada Siekierskiego, Armenia: kultura współczesna w ujęciu antropologicznym), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo DiG, 2014, pp. 19-31. (in Russian)
Arutyunyan 2021 – Arutyunyan V., Istoriya politzaklyuchennogo, Yer.: «Van Ar'yan», 2018, 275 s.
Bromley 1973 – Bromley YU.V., Etnos i etnografiya. Moskva: Nauka, 1973, 283 s. (in Russian)
Vallerstayn 2006 – Vallerstayn I. Mirosistemnyy analiz: Vvedeniye, M.: Izdatel'skiy dom «Territoriya budushchego», 2006, s. 230-246 (in Russian)
Kollinz 2009 – Kollinz R., Chetyre sotsiologicheskikh traditsii, M.: Izdatel'skiy dom «Territoriya budushchego», 2009, 320 s. (in Russian)
Martin 2001 – Martin T., Imperiya polozhitel'noy deyatel'nosti: Sovetskiy Soyuz kak vysshaya forma imperializma, red.: R. Syuni, T. Martin, Gosudarstvo natsiy: imperiya i natsional'noye stroitel'stvo v epokhu Lenina i Stalina, M.: ROSSPEN, s. 88-116 (in Russian)
Serebryanyy 2009 – Serebryanyy S., Yest' li takaya nauka «kul'turologiya»? Filologiya, Iskusstvovedeniye, Kul'turologiya: novyye vodorazdely i perspektivy vzaimodeystviya. Materialy Mezhduanrodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii, Sankt-Peterburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2009, s. 141-154 (in Russian)
Tishkov 2003 - Tishkov V. A., Rekviyem po etnosu: issledovaniya po sotsial'noy i kul'turnoy antropologii. Moskva: Nauka, 2003, 532 s. (in Russian)
Shagoyan 2022 – Shagoyan G., «Natsional'noye po soderzhaniyu i sotsialisticheskoye po forme»: palimpsest memorialov sovetskoy Armenii, Armyanskiy gumanitarnyy vestnik, 2022, N9, s. 122-144 (in Russian)
Yurchak 2014 – Yurchak A., Eto bylo navsegda, poka ne konchilos'. Posledneye sovetskoye pokoleniye, M.: NLO, 2014, 664 s. (in Russian)
Abrahamian 2024 – Abrahamian L., From Ethnography to Anthropology: A Survey of a Social Discipline in Armenia, public lecture at USC, 2024
Bart, Gingrich, Parkin, Silverman 2005 – Bart F., Gingrich A., Parkin R., Silverman S., One Discipline, Four Ways: British, German, French, and American Anthropology, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2005, 406 p.
Buchowski 2006 - Buchowski M., Social Thought & Commentary: The Specter of Orientalism in Europe: From Exotic Other toStigmatized Brother, Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 79, No. 3 (Summer, 2006), pp. 463-482
Clay 1995 - Clay C. B., Russian Ethnographers in the Service of Empire, 1856-1862, Slavic Review, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 45-61
Clifford 1988 - Clifford J., The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988, 408 p.
Clifford, Marcus 1985 – Writing Culture. The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, eds.: Clifford J., Marcus G.E., Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985
Dabaghyan 2011 – Dabaghayn A., Salvage versus Knowledge: Armenian Ethnography Across Soviet Times, eds.: Mühlfried F., Sokolovskiy S., Soviet Era Anthropology in the Caucasus and Central Asia, Berlin et al., LIT, pp. 151-173, Appendix 1
Hagan 2009 – Hagan M.D., The Transnational Ethnic Activism of Vojvodina Hungarians, Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, 2009, September, Vol. 37, No 5, 613-640
Hirsch 2005 – Hirsch F., Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005, 367 p.
Hrokh 1993 – Hrokh M., From National Movement to the Fully-formed Nation. The Nation-building Process in Europe, New Left Review, 1993, No. 198, April, pp. 3-19
Kuper 2015 – Kuper A., Anthropology and Anthropologists. The British School in the Twentieth Century, London, NY: Routledge, 2015, 152 p.
Levi-Strauss 1975 – Levi-Strauss C., Anthropology: Preliminary Definition: Anthropology, Ethnology, Ethnography, Diogenes, 1975, vol. 25, issue 90, pp. 1-25
Midena, Yeo 2022 – Midena D., Yeo R., Towards a history of the questionnaire, Intellectual History Review, 2022, vol. 32, No 3, pp. 503-529
Said 1977 - Said Ed., Orientalism. London: Penguin, 1977, 374 p.
Scherrer 2013 – Scherrer J., The ‘cultural/civilizational turn’ in post-Soviet identity building, eds.: P.-A. Bodin, S. Hedlund, E.Hamli, Power and Legitimacy Challenges from Russia, L., NY.: Routledge, 2013, pp. 152-168
White 1958 – White L., Culturology, Science, 1958, Vol. 128, Issue 3324, p. 1246
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Գայանե Շագոյան
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
