Looking West: The “Ērgirian Microworld” in Armenia and Its Diasporic Horizon

Can we look for instances of diasporic belonging not only outside homelands but also within their borders? If so, how does this perspective contribute to our understanding of diaspora cultures? In this article, I respond to these questions by examining the experiences of the descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors who live in the Republic of Armenia, but whose roots are in Ērgir —the lost homeland of their ancestors in present-day Turkey. I begin with a historical overview of my protagonists’ shifting perceptions of Ērgir and the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet Armenian republics as homelands, host lands, and hostile lands. Next, I present several ethnographic vignettes from my research among Armenians from the regions of Mush and Sasun. Finally, I examine main features of the “ Ērgirian microworld” ( Kharatyan-Araqelyan 2010