Diaspora identity and a new generation : Armenian diaspora youth on the genocide and the Karabakh war

In this paper, we explore the role of the early 20th century Armenian genocide and the unresolved Karabakh conflict of the 1990s in identity among the new generation of Armenian diaspora – those who grew up after the establishment of the independent Armenian state in 1991. We draw on original interviews with diasporic youth in France, the United Kingdom and Russia – diasporas which were largely built in the aftermath of the genocide and the Karabakh war. Diaspora youth relate to these events through transmitted collective memories, but also reconnect with the distant homeland’s past and present in new ways as they engage with new possibilities of transnational digital communication and mobility. Their experiences of identity shed light on how the new generation of diasporic Armenians defines itself in relation to the past; how this past is (re)made present in their interpretations of the Karabakh conflict and in everyday behaviors; and how diasporic youth experience the dilemmas of ‘moving on’ from traumatic narratives that for a long time have been seen as foundational to their identity.