Stories have the ability to forever shape the lives of children. This is true the world over. America being no different provides its children with a plethora of avenues to experience storytelling: books, comics, movies, theater, the internet, and so on. The Armenian-American child, with a need for integration, stands to benefit from these avenues even more so than the majority of other immigrant American children. The constant threat of assimilation and the lasting trauma of the Genocide have created the need for assistance in developing the Armenian-American child into a well-rounded, contributing member of society without forgoing the connection to the Armenian past or sense of Armenianness.
Storytelling has evolved beyond books and oratory tradition. Modern technology has given way to new methods of relaying impactful stories to children. Their power is in the ability to connect the audience to their individual or collective past, giving them a sense of who they are and what they may become. The influences of storytelling permeate through the child’s social behavior both in public and in the home. And one cannot overlook the indelible influence early storytelling has on the language skills of a child. In the case of Armenian-American children, stories have the ability to ensure proficiency in the Armenian language whether it be the spoken or written word…
There are a multitude of educational materials designed to engage children in the learning experience by shrouding the material with the guise of children’s stories. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. There are books by authors such as Dr. Seuss, countless computer software programs, television programs like Baby Einstein, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street; they all tap into the child’s imagination, taking the path of least resistance to instill basic knowledge at the earliest ages. According to Joan Ganze Cooney, co-founder of the Children’s Television Workshop that’s behind Sesame Street’s production, “Before Sesame Street, kindergartens taught very little, and suddenly children were coming in knowing letters and numbers.” Independent research had found that regular viewers of Sesame Street tested higher that non-viewers, with the positive effects of viewership lasting through high school.
But Sesame Street goes beyond the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic. It stands to serve as an example of the true power of storytelling. When it started in 1969, the show made a conscious effort in showing that people of differing backgrounds can and do live together without strife. And for over forty years Sesame Street, with positive reinforcement, has instilled in several generations the simple understanding that we are all created equal, with an understood goal to create a harmonious society among peoples of different backgrounds. In dealing with another of life’s issues, on one occasion the program featured the character of Big Bird dealing with the death of a loved one, sharing with children the distress and confusion one can feel with the loss. Through its combination of education, entertainment, and counseling in morality and social issues, Sesame Street stands as an example of what can be achieved with storytelling. In the case of Armenian-American children, the lesson learned here is the power storytelling can have in helping understand and even healing the trans-generational trauma and scarring left behind by the horrors of the Armenian genocide nearly a century ago.
Storytelling goes beyond simple entertainment, it is about finding out who you are. For centuries Armenians relied not on the written word but the oral tradition of past generations. These orations can be classified as myths and legends and in pre-literary Armenia they took the place of historical accounts. As with any culture, these myths were ripe with stories of legendary heroes who fought insurmountable odds against monstrous enemies. They were the defenders of the nation and people and the myths were their history. And what was the ancient pagan religion of Armenia if not a collection of myths and legend. The collective stories of Armenian myth and pagan beliefs help to paint a picture of the Armenian past. The actual background to the formation of the Armenian people and state is lost in the annals of time. So called “Armenologists” sift through the myths, legends, and fables of Armenia’s past to piece together probable actualities. For the development of the Armenian-American child these stories, be they historical or fiction, are beneficial.
The following excerpt from Margaret Bedrosian’s book on Armenian-American Literature, The Magical Pine Ring better captures the connection of Armenian stories to maintaining a certain degree of Armenianness.
Of all the art forms and relics stamped Armenian, it most effectively unlocks the Armenian sensibility. […] much that cannot be simply explained about the Armenian ethos and modern Armenian experience in America and elsewhere is here stored away as myth. The characters […] are earthy, idealistic, pragmatic, rooted in geography, and lifted by their faith. Each is a doorway into the Armenian wing of the collective unconscious and as such can lead dispersed Armenians out of the limbo.
When introduced at an early age, the stories of Armenians of lore such as Hayk, Vartan Mamikonian and David of Sassoun instill in an Armenian child something uniquely Armenian to be proud of. With a history filled with a genocide, massacres, forced removal from the homeland and the tribulations associated with immigrant life, stories that can instill hope and pride are necessary to keep the ancestral connection alive.
A role model serves as an example to others and can go so far as to dictate behavior. For youths and adults the position of the role model is often filled by an individual from their own lives, historical/revolutionary figures, and in some cases, celebrities or persons from popular culture. For a child in the developmental stage, the role model is quite often a character from a fictional story. In America, a child’s senses are inundated with characters vying for the cherished position of a role model; they exist in the multitude of storytelling avenues mentioned above. The role model is uniquely positioned to instill in a child a set of beliefs and world outlook. As in the example of Sesame Street, the belief that we are all created equal is beneficial to the child. Unfortunately, the truth of it is that many of the characters that children end up turning to for role models fail to serve as examples capable of instilling beneficial qualities in a child. A child stands to gain nothing when emulating a cartoon character such as Bart Simpson, Beavis or Butthead; or a celebrity like Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian. So it is important for the parent to take an aggressive stance at an early age in the child’s life to ensure the existence of a beneficial role model to the child. And the parent must continue to play an active role in the development of the child to ensure the continuance of the existence of beneficial role models, be they imaginary or real.
For the Armenian-American child, maintaining the existence of an Armenian role model is key. The protagonists of many of the stories that exist in the Armenian storytelling tradition can and do exist as role models to Armenian-American children and youth. Hayk, Vartan Mamikonian, and David of Sassoun are viable replacements to the presence of the Batmans, Charlie Sheens, and Brad Pitts in the lives of the American youth. In ancient times these uniquely Armenian stories helped ensure a distinct identity; in modern times these stories maintain the distinct identity in a world where ethnic and cultural divisions are blurred at an exceeding rate. Though it should be mentioned that in the Armenian tradition of stories there is a substantial lack of female characters to act as role models. This creates a difficult void to fill for the Armenian-American girl or young woman.
By default Armenian-American women are the ones best suited for ensuring the child’s introduction to Armenian storytelling. Often it is the mothers that choose the child’s first DVD or book. Between parents, they are the ones with the more active role in the development of the child. Much of the responsibility for creating the connection between the Armenian-American child and the ancestral, traditional past rests on the shoulders of the mother. In the case of daughters, the lack of female role models increases the mother’s responsibility in creating a viable, real-world role model for the daughter to connect to; often this would be the mothers themselves. In these modern times, a substantial number of mothers do work full time jobs so the responsibility of the child is transferred to a relative or as is more common in America, a nanny. In these cases it is the responsibility of both parents to ensure that the caretaker makes available Armenian material to the child’s imagination and development.
Presently there are few materials available to Armenian-American parents hoping to introduce their children to Armenian storytelling. Certainly there are children’s books available but in an increasingly technological world, storytelling by way of literature is not enough for the successful development of the Armenian-American child. America has an almost complete lack of Armenian storytelling beyond the written word. Armenian storytellers must adapt to the changing times and embrace new avenues to introduce Armenian stories to children. When trying to reach the Armenian-American child, Armenian stories face competition from movies, video games, and television programs designed to captivate and enthrall the audience until the next Harry Potter-like movie or Call of Duty-esque video game arrives.
The introduction of uniquely Armenian stories to American film and television can be pragmatic, but those avenues are already crowded with many more trying to break in. The avenue that is most conducive to helping the spread of Armenian storytelling is the internet. Children are introduced to computer technology at an early age and as technology becomes ever more intertwined in our daily lives, children adapt to using computers at an exponential rate. Following the creation of an online presence is the need for content, Armenians have a wealth of storytelling tradition to mine to make available to Armenian-American children. By taking the traditional Armenian stories and making them accessible to the new generations is easy in theory. But to keep up with the competition of American storytelling, it is necessary to make the Armenian stories appealing to the child. Sometimes a modern twist can be employed to make a story current with the times; as has been done many times with the works of William Shakespeare. Employing a similar tactic to the works of William Saroyan or other Armenian-American writers is a viable option for countering the assimilation of Armenian-American children. Most likely these authors experienced the same trials and tribulations in dealing with acclamation to American society. Making these works available on the internet can prove indispensable in the future development of Armenian-American children. Often it is the feeling of wanting to belong to a larger group that pushes the child away from his or her Armenianness. By providing access to a stranger’s own similar experiences can provide the child with that sense of belonging they so yearn for in American society.
Making an effort to introduce storytelling to an Armenian-American child in the early developmental stages can have lasting, positive effects in their adult life. Armenian stories can instill in a child a sense of belonging to an Armenian nation greater than the communities present in their own neighborhoods. This sense of belonging is key to averting assimilation and loss of Armenianness. In introducing Armenian stories at an early age, they remain present in the life of the child alongside stories introduced by American society; the cohabitation of both Armenian and American stories in the child’s mind can create the environment necessary for integration into American society without losing sight of and connection to the Armenian past. Once adults, these children will have an understanding of the importance of storytelling in the development of the Armenian-American child. The tradition will come full circle as they pass it down to their own children.
