Dear friends, you are warmly invited to the lecture “Samizdat as an act of Dissidence” by Arman Galoyan, which will take place on May 16 at 19:00 at the Library for Architecture
When discussing the modern stage of the history of the Armenian press, it is impossible to overlook the topic of samizdat or inknahrat press. This refers to periodicals that were secretly published by dissident figures during the Soviet era.
In general, the term “samizdat” originated in the mid-20th century in Soviet Russia. Specialists associate the emergence of self-publishing there with the constant presence of censorship across different periods.
In Armenia, inknahrat press emerged in the late 1960s. However, fertile ground for self-publishing and expressions of dissent had emerged much earlier, as small dissident movements had already begun to appear.
In the late 1980s, driven by the Karabakh movement, dissent in Armenia gained entirely new momentum and qualities. At the same time, inknahrat press flourished significantly: between 1988 and 1990, more than thirty samizdat publications were produced in Armenia.
Arman Galoyan
Journalist, Candidate of Philological Sciences. Born in Gyumri, he has been engaged in journalism since the age of 17. He worked as a correspondent for the daily newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak in the Shirak region.
He teaches journalism and has lectured at Brusov State University and Yerevan State University. He currently teaches at Eurasia International University and works as an editor at Radar Armenia.
In 2010, at the conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Brusov State University, titled “Armenian Socio-Political Thought: Late 20th – Early 21st Century,” he presented his paper “The Role of Samizdat Press in Armenia’s Independence Process and Its Influence on Contemporary Armenian media,” which later became the basis for his booklet “Samizdat in Armenia.”
Language of the lecture: Armenian
Address: Tumanyan street 2nd lane, 5th building
The lecture will take place within the framework of the thughtugir three-day zine festival.