Research Catalog

Title

Daredevils of Sasun : poetics of an epic / Azat Yeghiazaryan ; translation from the Armenian by S. Peter Cowe.

Author

Eghiazaryan, Azat.

Publication

Costa Mesa, Calif. : Mazda Publishers, 2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Cowe, S. Peter

Description

xiv, 254 p. : map; 23 cm.

Summary

"Passed down by word of mouth through the magic of live performance art for a millennium and a half till its scholarly transcription in the late 19th century, the Armenian epic Daredevils of Sasun presents a rich legacy of accumulated folk wisdom. This monograph is an introduction to the epic, maintaining a balance between the needs of a scholarly and more popular readership. Contextualizing his subject within the epic production of Western Europe, the Slavic lands, Anatolia and the Caucasus, and Central Asia, the author not only provides a summation of research on the epic, but is cogent in defining his own positions, probing new areas, and approaching some old from a new perspective."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

Armenian studies series ; no. 12

Uniform Title

• "Sasna tsṛer" ēposi poetikan. English
• Armenian studies series ; no. 12.

Alternative Title

"Sasna tsṛer" ēposi poetikan.

Subject

• Epic poetry, Armenian > History and criticism
• Sasuntsʻi Dawitʻ

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-239) and indexes.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The epic and Armenian history -- The epic and myth -- Daredevils of Sasun and earlier Armenian folkloric traditions -- The epic's impact on modern Armenian literate culture -- Man and community -- The 'external' man -- Epic harmony -- The nature and significance of epic action -- The hero's spiritual world -- Evolution of the epic hero -- The epic adversary and negative hero -- Humor in the epic -- The history of the House of Sasun -- The Christian perspective on history and Daredevils of Sasun -- The heroes' childhood -- The characterization of Little Mher -- The epic world in time and space -- The land of Sasun, its natural setting, and socio-political structure -- Walnut rye and eglantine wheat -- Traces of epic world unity -- God, saints, and idols in the epic world -- The narrator and the audience -- Narrative clarity and dynamism -- Epic repetitions and recurring epithets -- The hero's speech.

ISBN

• 9781568591674 (alk. paper)
• 1568591675 (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2008007302

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library