Dr. Myrna Douzjian to Give Second Lecture on \”Armenian Genocide in Film\”

FRESNO — Dr. Myrna Douzjian (UCLA), the 11th Henry K. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno, will give a talk, “Atom Egoyan’s Ararat: Traumatic Histories and Transnational Identities” at 7:30PM on Thursday, March 19, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the Fresno State campus.

The lecture is the second in her series on “The Armenian Genocide in Film: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives” in the Spring 2015 semester.

Atom Egoyan’s Ararat depicts at least 13 distinct, yet interwoven stories, all of which relate to the Armenian Genocide. By presenting a non-linear layering of personal, familial, and communal narratives, the film self-reflexively rejects the possibility of making a film that simply depicts “what happened” during the Genocide. Dr. Douzjian will analyze the film demonstrating the relationship between the film’s cinematic approach to the Genocide and the empowering theory it presents on transnational identity.

Lecture III in the series, on Wednesday, April 8, will be on “Reinventing the Genocide Documentary: Memories Without Borders and Solemnity.”

Myrna Douzjian earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research interests include postmodernism; the Theater of the Absurd; critical approaches to the study of world literature; and post-Soviet Armenian and Russian cultural production.

Her chapter on the politics of literary publication in twentieth-century Armenia appeared in the volume Armenian Philology in the Modern Era: From Manuscript to Digital Text (2014).

The lectures is free and open to the public. Free parking is available, with a parking code available through the Armenian Studies Program office, after 7:00PM at Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center.

For more information about the lecture please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.