
Ara Baliozian - Iconoclast Writer Spurned in Armenia
75 year-old Ara Baliozian is an author, translator, and critic, born in Athens, Greece. He received his education at the Mekhitarist College of Moorat-Raphael in Venice, where he also studied economics and political science at the University of Ca Foscari.
Readers will not be able to find any of his works in Armenia, despite the author's efforts to the contrary. He has authored over 30 works in both Armenian and English.
He now lives in Ontario, Canada, where he devotes his full time to writing. He now mostly posts his works on different Armenian internet discussion boards.
I had the opportunity to converse with the iconoclast writer and thinker via the internet.
You have spent years thinking, writing, and publishing commentaries and books about our culture. What's your vision of our culture?
I have every reason to suspect it's at a dead end.
I wonder how an Armenian writer can become respected abroad, but not a single word can be heard about you here in Armenia.
My answer is: because I refuse to recycle Armenian propaganda I have become a non-person, an abominable no-man, a traitor...
Your works were published in scores of Armenian periodicals. Why did they turn against you?
Because i started thinking for myself as opposed to recycling their favorite propaganda line.
They hate you in Armenia. Is it that you are extremely anti-Armenian and pro-Turkish, or are we, here in Armenia, so intolerant?
I am a supporter of justice. As ottomanized and sovietized Armenians, we have a tendency to be intolerant.
What, in your opinion, are the views that have made you enemies?
For exposing the dishonesty and incompetence of our leaders.
How does it feel to be forsaken in the fatherland?
A routine experience. At one time or another all Armenian writers have been falsely accused of crimes they did not commit.
You claim that we are living in a situation where strong propaganda reigns. What particular aspects do you see as a result of this propaganda?
Our reluctance to say anything against God and capital -- make it Capital and god -- and our Turcocentrism -- the idea that our destiny continues to be in Turkish hands.
It appears that there are certain themes that are off-limits in Armenia. Perhaps in the same way as the Orhan Pamuk incident in Turkey.
The Turks are ahead of us if only because they have produced an internationally recognized Nobel Prize winner.
How do you work with literary agents in Canada?
Canadian and American literary agents are interested only in books that will make money. My books and writings have no cash value.
What does it mean to be a writer of Armenian descent?
It means to belong to a fraternity that has been a perennial victims of alien and domestic tyrants.
What can you say about Armenian literature?
We have produced giants that have been treated like midgets.
Do Armenians in the diaspora avoid your critiques?
Armenians agree only with recycled propaganda - including enemy propaganda.
Can one be patriotic but not fascist?
There is an element of fascism in all Armenian nationalism and patriotism.
Do you see any salvation on the horizon or are we doomed?
To write is to hope.
So you have hope that Armenia will somehow change its attitude towards you one day?
I do but I don't count on it.
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