ENLIGHTENMENT AND DIASPORA: The Armenian and Jewish Cases

Edited by Richard G. Hovannisian and David N. Myers

The primary theme of Enlightenment and Diaspora is the complex and multifaceted engagement of two prominent diaspora communities with the European Enlightenment movement. The volume focuses on the comparative experience of Armenian and Jewish intellectuals and merchants in receiving, reformulating, and then disseminating Enlightenment values to their respective communities.

Specialists in Armenian and Jewish studies examine the role of commerce in spreading the Enlightenment; the path of transmission of Enlightenment thought from Western and Central Europe to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent; the tension between Enlightenment and traditional religious authority; and the Enlightenment's role in the development of national identity.

Scholars Press (1999)