Azerbaijani Literary Environment in Yerevan in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

The literary and cultural environment that historically developed in Yerevan and its surrounding areas constituted an important dimension of the Azerbaijani literary tradition. Since the medieval period, Yerevan had developed as a center of scholarship, culture, and education, with the literary tradition of Tabriz playing an important role in the formation of its literary environment. Armenian ashugs and poets active in the city also produced literary works in Azerbaijani, reflecting the linguistic and creative interactions that characterized the city’s literary milieu. Following the occupation of the Yerevan Khanate by Russian forces in 1827, established literary and cultural traditions continued for a certain period. From the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, correspondents associated with the periodicals Ekinchi and Molla Nasreddin were active in Yerevan, while the periodicals Lak-Lak and Burhani-Hagigat, published in the city, contributed to the development of its literary and journalistic environment. The mass violence and conflicts of 1905–1906 and 1918–1920 had a significant impact on Yerevan’s literary and cultural life and contributed to the weakening of its literary environment. Although literary and cultural activities were partially revived during the 1950s and 1960s, the departure of representatives of Yerevan’s literary environment from the city in 1988–1989 significantly affected the continuity of this milieu. The article analyzes the formation of the Azerbaijani literary environment in Yerevan during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, its principal representatives, major areas of literary activity, and the influence of historical and political processes on its development.