‘The Saint of the Home’ [tan surb] Manuscripts: Domestic Veneration, Postmemory, and Objects of Testimony

What is it about?

Armenian traditional folk dwellings contain many intriguing features that have either been overlooked in scholarly literature or only briefly mentioned. One such element is the tan surb, a term coined by the people themselves. While this aspect of folk culture is partially documented in ethnographic and descriptive literature from the 19th and 20th centuries, we have enriched the material presented in this article with data gathered during our fieldwork conducted between the 1980s and 2000s, as well as more recent fieldwork. The article emphasizes their deep historical and folk significance, as well as their role as familial objects of postmemory and testimony after the Armenian Genocide.

Featured Image