Erasures, Borders and the Afterlife of the Armenian Genocide w/ Sophia Armen (E79)

This is a conversation with Sophia Armen, an Armenian-American writer, scholar and organizer, about the legacy of the Armenian Genocide today.We spoke about race in the Ottoman Empire and then in the Turkish republic, how the genocide changed Armenian cosmology, the cruel absurdity of borders and various other topics. We also got into Palestine as well as our various positionalities. Sophia shared a lot about her own family's story in what is now Turkey.Topics Discussed:The legacy of the Armenian genocide and Sophia's personal storyPan-Turkish nationalism and its denial of the Armenian heritage of the modern Turkish stateHow the Armenian genocide changed the entire Armenian cosmology, including the seaThe cruel absurdity of bordersArmenians in Turkey todayThe Palestinian cause today and Turkey's roleThe Turkish government's lobbying in the USOur specific positionalitiesHow simply reversing the clash of civilizations thesis is also racistRacialization, 'whiteness', and Armenian-Americans in history and todayMusic by Tarabeat.Book Recommendations:This Bridge Called My Back, Fourth Edition: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria AnzaldúaSister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre LordeFood for Our Grandmothers: Writings by Arab-American and Arab-Canadian Feminists by Joanna KadiArmenian Women in a Changing World: Papers Presented at the First International Conference of the Armenian International Women's Association, edited by Barbara J. Merguerian and Doris D. JafferianThe Right to Struggle: Selected Writings of Monte Melkonian on the Armenian National Question by Monte Melkonian edited by Markar MelkonianFilm Recommendation:Ararat directed by Atom Egoyan