Յարութիւն Մարութեան2025-10-222025-10-222000Մարութեան, Յ., «Հայ պօէզիան որպէս ինքնութեան պատկերագրութիւն (ըստ Ղարաբաղեան ցեղասպանութեանը նուիրուած ցուցապաստառների), «Հայկազեան հայագիտական հանդէս», 2000, Պէյրութ, էջ 269-306https://haigrepository.haigazian.edu.lb/handle/123456789/839The Karabagh movement, which started in 1988, initialised a full outburst of popular creativity in Armenia. A particular aspect of this creativity was the hundreds of popular placards which appeared throughout the protests. These placards echoed every action and step taken to resolve the Karabagh conflict through negotiations and/or fighting. These placards help us to the changes in political orientation and to identify the stages. The author has photographed around 1000 placards which were used during the two years of the protests in Armenia, namely 1988-90. He groups these placards under 20 topics. Surprisingly however, placards dealing with the Armenian genocide outnumbered those dealing with the basic cause of the movement, namely the accession of Mountainous Karabagh to Armenia. In fact, the observation of the genocide placards has enabled the author to trace popular perception at the time. He highlights the gradual changes in the perception of this conflict among the protesting Armenians. In these placards direct quotes were used to make the placard sound more authoritative. The genocide topic was reflected on the placards in a great many quotations from renowned Armenian poets like Siamanto, Avetik Isahakian, Yeghishe Charents, Paruyr Sevak, and Hovhannes Shiraz. These poets were quoted because they carried the popular collective memory of the Armenian genocide and transformed it into poetry. The author highlights the folkloric nature these quotations took and depicts the evolution of popular perception of identity during 1988-1990.