Jennifer Manoukian to Discuss the Creation of Western Armenian at University of Michigan Lecture

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Historian of language Jennifer Manoukian will present a lecture titled “Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire” on Wednesday, October 7, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the University of Michigan.

The Manoogian Postdoctoral Lecture will take place at Weiser Hall, Room 555, 500 Church Street in Ann Arbor. The event will also be accessible via Zoom and is free and open to the public.

The lecture traces the dramatic linguistic transformation experienced by Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and examines the historical development of Western Armenian, whose legacy continues to shape Armenian communities throughout the diaspora.

Manoukian will explore how and why Armenians in the Ottoman Empire fashioned Western Armenian during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Central to the lecture will be the evolution of linguistic purism—an ideology that influenced the various stages of the language’s formation.

The presentation will also examine the role of global intellectual movements in shaping new linguistic ideologies within the Ottoman Empire and consider new approaches to understanding the language histories of Ottoman-era communities.

Manoukian is a historian specializing in the language practices and ideologies of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and the post-genocide diaspora. She earned her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles; an MA in Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies from Columbia University; and a BA in French and Middle Eastern Studies from Rutgers University.

She is the author of Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire and two book-length literary translations from Western Armenian: Zabel Yessayan’s The Gardens of Silihdar and Zareh Vorpouni’s The Candidate. She has also published numerous articles and is co-founder of Gesaria Armenian Research and Academic Services.

The event is co-sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Department of Anthropology, Department of Linguistics, Department of Middle East Studies, and Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, as well as the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).

Event Details:
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
4:30–6:00 p.m.
Weiser Hall, Room 555
500 Church St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Zoom Meeting ID: 965 0886 6848

The lecture is free and open to the public.