Citation

Maksudyan N. Child. Vulnerability J. 2018; 1(1): 15-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s41255-019-00002-8

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper provides an account of the survival strategies of Armenian children during the genocide and its aftermath with an approach that resists victimizing them. Available literature on the Armenian genocide is denser on issues of death and suffering than on survival and resilience. Recent research on the conversion to Islam, child adoption/fosterage, and abduction of women and children is more interested in survivors and survival, but does not necessarily take into account Armenian actors' agency. Constructing the history from children's point of view, one notes that Armenian children were not only victims. They had strategies of endurance and resistance. In their struggle to survive, Armenian children took initiative, made personal decisions, manipulated circumstances, and thus became active agents. Dwelling upon survivor testimonies in different forms (oral histories, memoirs, diaries), my research brings into light the resilience and self-confidence of children in their self-portrayals. Through playing games, getting into different sorts of adventures, building friendships, children tried to cope with the death and loss of loved ones, along with holding onto life. Heroic adventure narratives determined how they made sense of their survival.

Language: en