The Past as Nation: Three Dimensions of Armenian Identity

This article argues that the key to understanding nationhood is its relationship with the past - 'its' history. It accepts that nations are essentially modern constructs, based on subjective and objective characteristics, but this is not how members of a nation usually define their collective. What is crucial in the answer to the question 'when is the nation?' is not a given date (which is never fixed and regularly shifts based on need), but how and why the 'when' is defined. Hence, what needs to be analysed are the dynamics of formulating identity and the interpretation of history for contemporary purposes. Using the case of the Armenians, the article demonstrates that the question 'when is the nation?' is answered in terms of three broad time frames: fourth century AD, 2000 BC or earlier and 1915. Each approach looks at the past to define the nation, and, based on its world view, provides an appropriate answer. These differences are not just historiographical debates among specialists, but widely held views affecting current Armenian national identity.