Antonia Arslan, novelist of Armenian originsgave a lecture on
“ARMENIA – TURKEY: A NEVER ENDING STORY”
On Tue 18t October 2011.
Antonia Arslan, Italian novelist of Armenian origins, offered the UWC Adriatic community an opportunity to reflect on the history of Armenians and their historical relationship with Turkish people. Antonia Arslan’s talk touched upon the genocide of 1915, its background and consequences.
Students were inspired by Antonia Arslan’s considerations: “Turkish and Armenians were not always “enemies”. They share centuries of cohabitation”. She pointed out how an ambiguous silence affects this never-ending story. Antonia Arslan remembered how the Turkish public opinion had been transformed and how the past had been “erased” because of Ataturk’s political choices.
Antonia Arslan spoke of the many Turkish intellectuals and common people who express their solidarity for what happened less than a century ago.
“The situation is complicated but fascinating” Antonia Arslan commented: “one of my aims is to help recover collective memory. (...) There is no hatred in my book and messages but only the willingness to testify and remember”.
On the speaker:
Born in 1938 in Padova, Antonia Arslan is a novelist of Armenian origins. She graduated at the Faculty of Archeology at the University of Padova and she is now a Professor of Contemporary Italian Literature at the same University. She translated the Armenian poet Varujan.
In her best seller “La Masseria delle Allodole” (“The Lark Farm” - 2004), she describes the condition of Armenian people in Anatolia during and after the genocide. She particularly focuses on the role of Armenian women, their patience, love, endurance and wit. Antonia Arslan won the Italian “Premio Stresa” for narrative arts and received honors at the Campiello Awards competition. At the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, the movie version of her masterpiece was presented by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.
Students were inspired by Antonia Arslan’s considerations: “Turkish and Armenians were not always “enemies”. They share centuries of cohabitation”. She pointed out how an ambiguous silence affects this never-ending story. Antonia Arslan remembered how the Turkish public opinion had been transformed and how the past had been “erased” because of Ataturk’s political choices.
Antonia Arslan spoke of the many Turkish intellectuals and common people who express their solidarity for what happened less than a century ago.
“The situation is complicated but fascinating” Antonia Arslan commented: “one of my aims is to help recover collective memory. (...) There is no hatred in my book and messages but only the willingness to testify and remember”.
On the speaker:
Born in 1938 in Padova, Antonia Arslan is a novelist of Armenian origins. She graduated at the Faculty of Archeology at the University of Padova and she is now a Professor of Contemporary Italian Literature at the same University. She translated the Armenian poet Varujan.
In her best seller “La Masseria delle Allodole” (“The Lark Farm” - 2004), she describes the condition of Armenian people in Anatolia during and after the genocide. She particularly focuses on the role of Armenian women, their patience, love, endurance and wit. Antonia Arslan won the Italian “Premio Stresa” for narrative arts and received honors at the Campiello Awards competition. At the 2007 Berlin Film Festival, the movie version of her masterpiece was presented by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.
