Anahid Matossian’s book on “Syrian-Armenian Women Migrants in Armenia: Gender, Identity, and Painful Belonging” Published

LONDON/NEW YORK—I. B. Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, announced the publication of Dr. Anahid Matossian’s Syrian-Armenian Women Migrants in ArmeniaGender, Identity, and Painful Belonging. The book is part of the series Armenians in the Modern and Early Modern World edited by Bedross Der Matossian (University of Nebraska, Lincoln). 

After the outbreak of the 2011 Syrian War, a number Syrian-Armenians who had lived in the territory for generations, fled to the Republic of Armenia. This book traces the experiences of Syrian-Armenian women as they navigated their changing and gendered identities from their adopted ‘homeland’ to their socially constructed new ‘ancestral’ home in Armenia. The rich ethnographic research conducted over 6 years by the author reveals how women adjusted to new lives in Armenia, supported themselves through gendered work such as embroidery production, yet mostly challenge simple identities such as ‘refugee’ or ‘repatriate,’ existing in a state of what the author terms “painful belonging”. The book further reveals crucial insight into how experiences and traumatic memories of war in Syria and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict reciprocally shape each other in the minds of the women interviewed.

Dr. Matossian commented: “It’s literally a dream come true seeing this book come to fruition after a decade of research, writing, and fieldwork. I am extremely grateful to I.B. Tauris for seeing this project through.” She continued, “I decided to write this book because I felt I had an obligation to be transparent with the communities I worked with and amplify the voices of migrant women who often go unheard, but are intensely innovative and agentive. I also wanted to showcase the service providers that tirelessly work to support migrant women’s careers and lives blossom in their new host country. I first became interested in oral history and gender and conflict studies through listening to family stories of survival at a young age. I now understand these stories, from the Armenian genocide to the Lebanese Civil War to the Syrian conflict, to be a form of testimony. Sharing stories is healing, and it forced me to be vulnerable as well. Anthropology was an easy and natural path to follow, linking storytelling, advocacy, and public service.”

“This is a fascinating ethnographic study that delves into the experiences of Syrian Armenian women in Armenia after the 2011 Syrian War,” said Der Matossian, editor of the series. “Matossian has successfully illustrated how these women not only adjusted to their new homeland but also navigated the complexities of displacement and integration, all while engaging in gendered forms of labor. Her work highlights the resilience and agency of these women as they contribute to their communities in ways that are shaped by both their cultural heritage and the socio-economic realities they face in Armenia.

Reviews

“An excellent ethnographic analysis of Armenian women in the twenty-first century, focusing on the lived experiences of Syrian Armenian women who were forcibly displaced after 2011 to Armenia, their new homeland in the east. Interviews with Syrian Armenian women entrepreneurs, Armenian state officials trying to create citizens out of them, and self-reflexivity experienced by the American-Armenian author with origins in Syria capture the painful process of belonging in the polity, economy and everyday life in Armenia. This process of belonging is a long journey for all Armenians, originating in the 1915 Armenian Genocide when all Western Armenian speaking Ottoman imperial subjects were either destroyed or were forced to settle outside of the Ottoman Empire, in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in this instance.”
―Fatma Müge Göçek, Professor, University of Michigan, USA

“From rose-scented memories to multiple wars, displacement, changing gender dynamics, and inventive entrepreneurship, Anahid Matossian vividly portrays Syrian-Armenian womens’ lived experiences in Armenia. This richly layered book includes Matossian’s complex concept of “painful belonging” as well as practical advice to NGOs and agencies trying to meet the needs of newcomers.”
―Susan Pattie, Dr., Honorary Senior Research Associate, University College London, U.K.

Dr. Anahid Matossian is a Cultural Anthropologist at the U.S. Army’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. She received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Matossian has also worked for the State Department on Atrocity Prevention policy and Women, Peace, and Security.

Copies of Syrian-Armenian Women Migrants in Armenia: Gender, Identity, and Painful Belonging are available for purchase from the Bloomsbury Press website. Enter code GLR AT8 at the checkout on bloomsbury.com for 35 percent off.