Universal History

In the 9th–10th centuries, the traditions of our rich 5th-century historiography were restored. The beneficial influence of the writings of the "Father of History" Movses Khorenatsi and the aesthetic historian Yeghishe is particularly powerful, also in terms of language and style. The chroniclers of those centuries, Movses Kaghankatvatsi, Tovma Artsruni and the Anonymous, Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi, and Stepanos Asoghik, do not merely follow the traditions of the past, but also express their own original voice, which is then imitated by chroniclers of later centuries.

In that stormy period of self-assertion, the state of the grabar Classical Armenian language was quite complex. Renowned authors, having received monastic education, created literary masterpieces in grabar. However, the living language was gradually moving away from classical Armenian, and this could not but have its impact, especially on the language and style of historiography. This is why several stylistic directions appear and form: the oratorical or rhetorical style, the notable representative of which is the prominent 10th-century spiritual figure and historian Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi, and the "peasant speech" Armenian: "geghjuk ban", the initiator of which is Shapuh Bagratuni. His work, unfortunately, is lost; only information has remained in the writings of other authors.

In the poetic art, the prominent representative of the oratorical style is, undoubtedly, the 10th-century genius poet Grigor Narekatsi.

There is also another stylistic direction that adheres to the oratorical style, which is, so to speak, the difficult or cryptic style. This stylistic direction reached its peak in the letters of the 10th–11th-century well-known statesman, chronicler, poet, translator, and philosopher Grigor Magistros.

To form a more complete understanding of the language and style of the historiography of the period under examination, let us describe in a few words the linguistic and stylistic features of Stepanos Taronetsi Asoghik's work "Universal History."

Asoghik, being a prominent ecclesiastical figure, was not only well-versed in our historiography but also thoroughly familiar with the entire path that grabar had taken. Movses Khorenatsi had a particularly great influence on him, from whose "History of Armenia" he made excerpts, composing the first and second volumes and the beginning of the third volume of his "Universal History." He sought not to write rhetorically—that is, to expand the descriptions of historical events and present them with an artistic spirit—but to present the facts. He confesses this himself, saying that they are not "a discourse on time, but a selection of remembrances."2 It should be kept in mind that in this period, another direction of our historiography also began to take shape: chronology, for which the extraction of facts was essential, not presenting the facts with artistic stylization. Asoghik's work is at the crossroads of historiography and chronology. The direction of chronology is particularly felt in those sections that are...

1 M. Abeghyan, Works, Vol. G, Yerevan, 1968, pp. 613-615.
2 Stepanos Taronetsi, p. 275.