Arman MARTIROSYAN Doctorant

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PRESENTATION

I am a second-year PhD student, specializing in British, Russian, and Near Eastern cultural histories and geographies. More specifically, I am working on travel writings produced during the long nineteenth century by British travelers in the southern frontiers of the Russian Empire, namely the Crimea and the Caucasus. The expanded timeframe (1783–1914) and the large corpus (over 240 texts identified) will allow me to determine how British men and women traveled with imperial preconceptions in lands that were under non-British imperial control. It is supposed that in their written and visual representations of “exotic” “Others” and “strange” landscapes, these travelers had to adopt a new, non-imperial yet perhaps dominating gaze while also striving to adapt these peoples and scenery into familiar frames. The ethnographic and historical qualities of these documents will also be assessed; observations that reflect the national (British) identity just as much as plurality of the Russian, Crimean, or Caucasian ones.

I am working under the supervision of Mrs. Hélène Ibata (Professor of British civilization, Université de Strasbourg, UR 2325 Savoirs dans l’Espace Anglophone : Représentations, Culture, Histoire – SEARCH) and the co-supervision of Mr. Rodolphe Baudin (Professor of Russian literature, Sorbonne Université, UMR 8224 Europe orientale, balkanique et médiane – EUR’ORBEM, dont le Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches sur l’Europe orientale, l’Asie centrale et la Russie – CIRRUS).

My PhD thesis/dissertation is entitled “Nineteenth-Century British Travel Writing About the Crimea and the Caucasus Under Russian Imperial Domination: From the Northern Tour to the Southern Frontiers.” In French: “Les récits de voyage britanniques du dix-neuvième siècle sur la Crimée et le Caucase sous la domination impériale russe : du Tour du Nord aux frontières du Sud.”

I occasionally work on twentieth- and twenty-first-century popular culture and music as well as international politics, with a specific emphasis on the case of the Eurovision Song Contest.

TRAVAUX

Conferences:

  1. International symposium “The Traveller’s Tale: Emergent Forms and Minority Traditions,” 14 and 15 November 2024, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (UR 4280 CELIS).

From Murray Handbooks to Lonely Planets: Shifting Perspectives on Traveling to the Disputed Territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and Crimea in Several Lonely Planet Guidebook Editions (2000–2024).

 

  1. International symposium “From Exploration Narratives to Ethnographic Writing(s): Translational Perspectives,” 17 and 18 October 2024, Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris (EA 4398 TRACT–PRISMES and EA 7357 CIRPaLL).

Unspeakable Crimes, Inaccessible Tongues: Traumatic Silence, Cultural Mediation, and Zabel Yesayan’s In the Ruins (1911) Within the Lines of Travel Writing.

 

  1. The 17th ESSE Conference (European Society for the Study of English), seminar no. 19 “Food and Eating in Anglophone Literature and Travel Writing from the Nineteenth Century to the Present,” 26 to 30 August 2024, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.

A Feast of Observations: The British Within the Alimentary Contact Zones of Nineteenth-Century Russian Imperial Frontiers.

 

  1. Study day “Imaginaires – S’approprier les mondes,” 10 June 2024, Université de Strasbourg (UMR 7069 LinCS). https://hal.science/hal-04607685

Réimaginer la Crimée pour l’intégrer à l’Europe : la redécouverte et la représentation du passé hellénique de la Crimée dans les récits de voyage britanniques (XIXe siècle).

 

  1. International study day “Joint Colloquium Mulhouse–Strasbourg–Tübingen,” 7 June 2024, Universität Tübingen, Germany (Englisches Seminar). https://hal.science/hal-04607632

Make Yourself at Home Far Away from Home: Food, Drinks, and Hospitality in Caucasian and Armenian Households as Experienced in Nineteenth-Century British Travel Writings.

 

  1. International symposium “The ESC in the 21st Century: Eurovision and/or Euro-Visions?” 16 and 17 May 2024, Université de Lille (ULR 4074 CECILLE). https://hal.science/hal-04582431

Towards Eurovision, Towards Europe, From the Motherland: Projecting Armenia and Armenianness on the World Stage.

 

  1. International study day “PhD Spring Seminars,” 19 February 2024, Université de Strasbourg (Programme Doctoral International, PDI). https://hal.science/hal-04471960

Starting off the Journey: Exploring Some Key Interdisciplinary Elements in the Studies of Travel Writing.

 

  1. International study day “EUCOR 2023 Annual English Trinational MA and PhD Conference,” 21 April 2023, Universität Freiburg, Germany.

From Eurovision to the American Song Contest: Mapping the European Vision of “Unity in Diversity” onto America.

 

  1. Study day “Master 2 Study Day,” 28 April 2022, Département d’études anglophones, Université de Strasbourg (UR 2325 SEARCH et UR 1339 LiLPa).

Where Are They Now? The Dominance and Downfall of English-Speaking Countries at the Eurovision Song Contest (1992–2022).

 

Publications:

  1. [To be published] Eating Stories: Food in Anglophone Literature and Travel Writing from the Nineteenth Century to the Present, eds. Ludmilla Kostova and Oana Cogeanu-Haraga. (Following the symposium at the University of Lausanne.)

“A Feast of Observations: The British Within the Culinary Contact Zones of Nineteenth-Century Russian Imperial Frontiers.”

 

  1. [To be published]From Exploration Narratives to Ethnographic Writing(s): Translational Perspectives. (Following the symposium at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University.)

“Unspeakable Crimes, Inaccessible Tongues: Traumatic Silence, Cultural Mediation, and Zabel Yesayan’s In the Ruins (1911) Within the Lines of Travel Writing.”

 

My juvenile (pre-PhD) works may be found at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arman-Martirosyan

CV

 

 

MEMBERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Société d’étude de la littérature de voyage du monde anglophone (SELVA).
  • Société des anglicistes de l’enseignement supérieur (SAES).
  • Association française des russisants (AFR).
  • National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).
  • Société des études arméniennes (SEA).
  • Association internationale des études arméniennes (AIEA).
  • Société des études sur le Moyen-Orient et les Mondes musulmans (SEMOMM).
  • Association d’Ethnologie de l’Université de Strasbourg.
  • Délégué–représentant des doctorants du Programme Doctoral International (PDI) à l’Université de Strasbourg. Depuis novembre 2023. Pour une durée de 3 ans.
  • Co-animateur du « Book Club » du Département d’études anglophones à l’Université de Strasbourg. Depuis septembre 2023.

 

 

EDUCATION

 

  • MASTER (2021–2023) / Université de Strasbourg

Parcours « Langue, littérature et civilisation : Mondes anglophones – recherche ».

Mémoire intitulé « “Where Are They Now?” The Dominance and Downfall of English-Speaking and English-Singing Countries at the Eurovision Song Contest (1992–2022) ». Sous la direction de Timothy A. HERON.

Mention « très bien » ; classement : 1er.

 

  • Programme d’échange (2021–2022) / Université internationale EPICUR

Cours en ligne sur la politique et culture européennes proposés par des universités en Allemagne (Karlsruhe et Fribourg), en Pologne (Poznań), en Grèce (Thessaloniki) et en Alsace (Strasbourg et Mulhouse).

 

  • LICENCE (2018–2021) / Université de Strasbourg

Parcours « Langue, littérature et civilisation : Études anglophones ».

Mention « très bien » ; classement : 1er.

 

  • BACCALAURÉAT (2018) / Erevan, Arménie