Cummings Foundation Grant Recipient
Cummings Foundation Grant Recipient
Lecture

Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire.”

Jennifer Manoukian
Date & Time
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | 4:30 PM ET
Location
University of Michigan
Format
Hybrid
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Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire.” flyer
Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire.”
Manoogian Postdoctoral Lecture
Featured Presenter
  • Jennifer Manoukian
Date & Time
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | 4:30 PM ET
Location
University of Michigan
Format
Hybrid
Sponsors
  • Center for Armenian Studies
  • International Institute
  • National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
Description

This lecture follows Armenians in the Ottoman Empire through a dramatic linguistic transformation, the aftershocks of which are still being felt today throughout the Armenian diaspora. It chronicles how and why Armenians in the Ottoman Empire fashioned a new language called Western Armenian in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and explores the evolution of an ever-changing ideology that undergirded all phases of the language's formation: linguistic purism. Manoukian will examine the power of global intellectual movements in crafting new language ideologies in the Ottoman Empire and reimagines what language histories can be for Ottoman-era language communities.

Jennifer Manoukian is a historian of language. Her work explores the language practices and ideologies of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and post-genocide diaspora. She earned her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles; her MA in Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies from Columbia University; and her BA in French and Middle Eastern Studies from Rutgers University. She is the author ofPurist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire and two book-length literary translations from Western Armenian:The Gardens of Silihdar by Zabel Yessayan and The Candidate by Zareh Vorpouni. She is also the author of a number of articles and the co-founder of Gesaria Armenian Research and Academic Services.

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