Rupen Zartarian

Dr. Rubina Peroomian's paper was titled "Rupen Zartarian's Call for Justice". In a period of darkness, political repression and other hardships, Zartarian's (1874-1915) literature "was one of the few in its quest for freedom and honesty in artistic expression and thought" said Dr. Peroomian. "He was the artist born from the bosom of his people in Hayastan - Eastern Anatolia of the time - singing the plight of the nation." Zartarian was a writer (poetry, short stories, novellas, tales), educator and political activist and his "legacy in these three spheres deserves to be collected, studied, and published." His literature depicts the Armenian rural life in an idyllic setting that "is poisoned by socio-economic exploitations, old customs and misinterpreted traditions and superstition." Zardarian also believed that for the Armenian to coexist with the Turk, the route to take would be the rapprochement with Turkish intellectuals through literature. Peroomian ended by asking "Is this an option today?"