1987_04 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper April 1987

              APRIL 1987
HYE SHARZHOOM
Page 5
ESSAY WINNERS
Hye Sharzhoom is happy to announce the winners of the recent Essay Contest on
the topic -How to resist assimilation? The winners are Michael Masgalajian of
San Francisco State College and Taleen Marashian from Stanford.  Each will receive a
first prize award of$!00.00 donated by Mr. and Mrs. Babken and Anahid Khanjian of
New York. Following is the essay by Michael Masgalajian and it will be followed by
Taleen Marashian's essay in the next issue of Hye Sharzhoom.
By Michael Masgalajian
San Francisco State University
I believe that the best way to answer the
question of how we, as Armenian-Americans,
should resist total assimilation is to first
answer the question of why we should resist
this assimilation. Our actions need a solid
grounding, a reason. Only when this reason is
established will courses of action be effective.
The task of this essay then, is to answer the
how by way of the why.
So why should you resist assimilation?
Assimilation means shaking off the silly
archaic bonds of your old-world Armenian
tradition in order to more fully identify
yourself as a denizen of America. America!
The bright new world. The best place on earth.
The richest nation in history. Here is to be
found the greatest highways, the most
automobiles, the largest cities, the best
entertainment, the latest fashions, the newest
technology-this is the land of the superlative.
Nobody starves here. There is virtually no
government oppression. There is no need to
worry about car bombs or bodily parasites.
And most important of all the things America
has to offer is something called freedom. A
freedom that goes far beyond mere political
freedom, beyond the right to vote. This is a
freedom to be, a freedom to think, a freedom to
act. If you decide to dye your hair green to
protest CIA involvement in central Africa, you
can do it. If you decide to drop out of society
and experiment with alternative modes of
consciousness, you can do it If you decide to
run for state senator, you can do that too. Here
in America you are not bound by tradition.
You are an individual and separate self, free to
make your own tradition.
So what's the problem? Why on earth
should you prevent yourself from becoming
assimilated? Well to answer this, we must
look at that word freedom again, If you notice,
it comes in two different but related senses-
freedom to, and freedom from. We know that
Americans are free to do basically anything
they want. Why is this? It is because they are
free from certain things. They are free from
undesirable things like tyranny, fanaticism and
superstition. But this freedom from is a double
edged weapon, for American are also free from
something good, something essential- the
commonality of identity, background and
history that makes up a tradition, an ethnic
tradition. They are free from that human bond.
This, combined with the vast scale of the
American scene, can leave a person lost and
alone. Out of individualism comes isolation.
Think of it. In America today, nearly every
human being you come across is a stranger.
Drive down a super-highway- everyone you
see you've never seen before and will never see
again. Go to a local supermarket or shopping
mall- you'll be surrounded by hundreds of
people and yet chances are you won't know a
soul. People here are out of communication.
Should you worry about this? Probably not.
No one else is worrying, they're too busy
watching television. That's right, why worry
about not being able to communicate with
your fellow man when you can watch a two-
ZABEL
continued from page 4
believe that there will be anyone left to be
saints for," he continued, only pausing to take
a drink. "For many years she's suffered to
keep her painful memories alive for one
reason: to preserve her people. Over a
thousand times she's told her story, but
she says it's always forgotten. She can
feel her people falling apart around her,
melting into their new cultures...that's
why she won't meet you. She won't meet
you because you'll go home to America
and forget her. And since you'll forget, she
says it's also time for her to forget."
dimensional image of him on your screen. And
television is not the only device for taking
ones mind off of real human interaction.
Modem America offers a host of electronic
machinery, gadgets, and playthings that are
just as effective; VCR's, compact disk players,
video games, big stereos for your house, little
stereos for your car, real little stereos for your
belt, etc. These are the products of the
marriage of technology and consumerism. The
art of communication has become less
important than skill at button pushing. It is
through these commodities that many people
today find their only source of the
commonality of experience that is so
important. Although most modern Americans
have no common cultural experience, they
have a common "Family Ties"experience,a
common "Star Wars" experience, a common
"Run DMC" experience. Human bonds of this
sort cannot suffice, not for real people. These
bonds are not of flesh and blood, but of
circuits and wire, the techno-consumer lifestyle
even effects the most important human bond-
rOmantic love. The attitude taken towards
marriage today seems to be the kind one would
apply towards a tape player— ifjt doesn't work
throw it away and buy a new one. Given this
attitude, combined with the general lack of a
common background, is it any wonder
families are being ripped apart? The very
notion of family seems out of date. The
modem society is producing individuals with
complete freedom from, their fellow human
beings.
So now it can be seen that ther are at least
some undesirable elements to modern
American life. We have seen that the new
world is warped in some ways. We now have
some good reasons to resist assimilation,
although so far these reasons are wholly
negative. Now let's look at our funny old
world Armenian culture. Are there any positive
reasons to embrace it? Does it contain any
elements that are relevant to people living in
the modern world? The answer to both of these
questions is a heartfelt 'yes'. This answer is
rooted in the idea that while progress and
change occur in the material side of life, the
foundation of one's being, his soul if you like,
remains forever the same. No matter if he is
living in the most modem situation, in a big-
city highrise or in a space station, man's
needfor human interaction, spirituality and
love are always with him. Now where should
we, Armenian-Americans, look to find these
necessities of the soul? We need look no
further than our ethnicity.
We are perhaps jaded from living with the
Armenian scene all our lives, but imagine
seeing it for the first time. Look at the people
all around you-in the church, or the social hall,
or at the cultural events. Chances are you
know everyone by name. With these people
you have a common look, a common tradition, a common history, and common blood.
This is a vast extended family. Consider the
way in which these people relate to you. There
are younger people who look up to you as if
you were an older sibling. There are
mature adults who take joy in your growth and
accomplishments as if you were there own
1 child. And there are the old people, the ones
that remember your common history, who
look at you as if they were proud of your
existence, because they somehow live on
through you. There is a sympathetic connection between the members of this family.
When one member achieves success, all
members share in that success. For instance
when George Deukmejian won the governorship, it was as if we all won something.
Likewise when tragedy strikes one member, all 11
members share in that tragedy.
Look at the various elements in our culture.
Think of the spectacle of Armenian dancing-
everyone linking fingers and gyrating in rather
complex fashion to wild hypnotic music. If
the dancing of couples is viewed as an expression of sexuality, what must this express?
It expresses the mutual bond, the oneness of
the community. In modem societal terms it is
a strange and wonderful thing indeed.
Think of the food. It comes with funny
names like madzoon, boureg, and pasterma,
and it's the best food in the world. This is not
the bland stuff you find at Safeway-this has
taste. It's true Armenians love to eat, but its
not because we're starving, it's because we
know what a joy eating can be.
Think of the Armenian Church service.
What beauty? A blast of sublime music and
stained glass color. The sound of chanting and
the smell of incense. An ancient and mystical
ritual. A modem person may be tempted to
question the relevance of this, but nevertheless, there is a relevance. This ritual,
besides being beautiful for itself, is evocative
of a deeper meaning of existence. It
symbolically points to the true foundation of
life that lies beyondthe everyday material
world.
Finally, think of the way the ethnic
community satisfies the need for romantic
love, the love between man and woman.
Because of the cultural bonds we have spoken
of, there is an ideal environment in which this
love can grow. Armenian men and women,
once they get together, tend to stick together.
Their bond goes deeper than mere sexuality.
So, in conclusion, we have seen that while
America has many great aspects it is woefully
lacking in certain elements that are essential to
human existence. These elements are and
always have been provided by our Armenian
cultural life. Knowing this, and being
convinced of it, is the best way we can begin
the process of resisting assimilation. At the
same time, though, I do not belive we should
turn our backs on America altogether.We
Armenians-Americans live in the unique
position of being able to enjoy the best of
cultures. So let's live within the context of the
freedom America has to offer but keep our
ancient tradition. Let's live in the new world
but retain the spirit of the old. Retain it and
not forget it. For the old world is not old, it is
eternal.
one
one
J%9%k
one
The following poem was kindly sent to the Editor as requested , during poet Diana Der
11 ovanessian's visit to Fresno. The Editor wished to print the poem for all to read as one of the
many beautiful examples of Ms. Der Hovanessian's poems about the Armenian people
TWO VOICES
"Do you think of yourself as an Armenian? Or an American? Or hyphenated
American?" Question from D.M. Thomas.
In what language do I pray?
Do I meditate in language?
In what language am I trying
to speak when I wake from dreams?
Do I think of myself as an American,
or simply as woman when I wake?
Or do I think of the date and geography
I wake into, as woman?
Do I think of myself in my clothes
getting wet walking in the rain?
Do I think velvet, or do I think
skin?
Am I always conscious of genes and
heredity or merely how to cross my legs
at the ankle like a New England lady?
In a storm do I think of lightning
striking? Or white knives dipped
into my great aunts' sisters'
sisters' blood?
Do I think of my grandfather telling
about the election at the time
of Teddy Roosevelt's third party,
and riding with Woodrow Wilson
in a Main Street parade
in Worcester?
Or do I think of my grandmother at Ellis Island,
or as an orphan in an Armenian village?
Or at a  black stove in Worcester
baking blueberry pie for my grandfather
who preferred food he had grown
to like in lonely mill town
cafeterias while he studied
for night school?
Do I think of them as Armenian
or as tellers of the thousand and
one wonderful tales in two languages?
Do I think of myself as hyphenated?
No. Most of the time, even as you,
I forget labels.
Unless you cut me.
Then I look at the blood.
It speaks in Armenian.
tic