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SUMMARY:Fragments of Insanity\, Shattered Lives after the Armenian Genocid
 e - Dr Suzan Meryem Rosita Kalayci (University of Oxford)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220307T160000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220307T171500Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/a06b477c-bd6d-432d-8596-60c5e137a05f/
DESCRIPTION:My new book project ‘Fragments of Insanity’ explores the r
 elations between history\, madness\, and trauma within the broader context
  of the Armenian genocide and its aftermath. My project follows a shift of
  paradigm in the field of history\, and in the broader context of medical 
 humanities\, linking histories of violence to individual narratives of mad
 ness and trauma.\n\nThe project is largely inspired by the life story of A
 lexander Cosac. I found his testimony in The Columbia Armenian Oral Histor
 y Project. I was preparing the project’s collection for digitization whe
 n by sheer accident I found some interview notes in a folder with otherwis
 e inconsequential paraphernalia. They read: “The life of Alexander Cosac
  remains a mystery\, perhaps even to himself. He cannot be expected to giv
 e very coherent answers for our oral history interview because of his year
 s in isolation in various mental institutions and his damaged skull. Nor i
 s Alex a typical survivor. Nevertheless\, I feel strongly for some reason 
 that the life of this ‘wayward Armenian’ is still a valuable record. I
 t not only deserves our attention\; it somehow demands it.” \n\nI am fas
 cinated by what the interviewer had to say about Alexander Cosac’s testi
 mony\, all of which seemed a bit outdated and crude\, but equally so raise
 d many questions about what we mean by the notion of testimony. \n\nI am a
 t the very beginning of this project (two months in!)\, and would like to 
 take the opportunity of this lecture to explore some of my initial questio
 ns together with you.\n\n(I am leading on a digitization and transcription
  project with the Oral History Archives at Columbia University (OHAC). In 
 the past months\, we have digitized and are now in the process of transcri
 bing an important\, widely unknown\, collection of 147 testimonies of chil
 d survivors of the Armenian genocide\, located at Butler library. You can 
 read about our collaboration here: https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/article/new-
 collaboration-oxford-network-of-armenian-genocide-research-x-ohac)\n\nSpea
 kers:\nDr Suzan Meryem Rosita Kalayci (University of Oxford)
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre\, Maison Francaise d’Oxford\, 2-10 Norham Road\
 , Oxford OX2 6SE
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/a06b477c-bd6d-432d-8596-60c5e137a05f/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Fragments of Insanity\, Shattered Lives after the Armenia
 n Genocide - Dr Suzan Meryem Rosita Kalayci (University of Oxford)
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