The Fashioning of the Modern and Robust Armenian

“The Fashioning of the Modern and Robust Armenian”

The Armenian inhabitants of Lebanon in the middle of the 20^th century began to promote awareness of the body and physical fitness through Armenian national athletic organizations associated with Armenian political parties. From within the space of the Lebanese nation-state, thousands of Armenians from various Lebanese cities competed with one another in athletic events that were “meant to foster Armenian national pride.” These athletic games were avidly covered in the Armenian press, which dedicated whole issues in the weeks prior, during, and after the games to their statistics, accomplishments, defeats, and significantly, how their modern and robust bodies served the Armenian nation. 

This paper will examine the construction of the modern Armenian man and woman through the coverage, display, and praise of these athletes. These representations projected a prototypical male and female modern national who will go on to protect and work for the Armenian nation. And yet, each Armenian political party had their own athletic organization, resulting in a myriad of Armenian archetypes. While these archetypes did not meet on the field, they vied with one another through the pages of the Armenian press in Lebanon. In harnessing the strength of the body and the spectacle associated with its admiration, the Armenian press maintained teams of these Armenian men and women, “housed” in Lebanon. In exploring these multiple prototypes, the paper also considers the resulting Armenian moderns and their intrinsic relationship to the national space of Lebanon.