Commemorating amid genocide: Remembrance and resistance among American Armenians, 1915–early 1920s

Scholars exploring the connections between genocide commemoration and resistance often regard genocide as a historical event of the past, viewing resistance mainly as a reaction to its denial or the distortion of its histories and memories. In contrast, this article draws on the Armenian case to approach genocide as a process that extends beyond acts of direct killing. Analyzing three common forms of commemoration among American Armenians—mourning ceremonies, fundraising materials, and communal publications—it investigates the dynamic relationship between commemoration and resistance to violence among Armenian immigrants in the United States shortly after the 1915 massacres. By foregrounding genocide as a process rather than a concluded event, this article argues that survivor communities’ early acts of commemoration in the immediate aftermath of mass killings can serve not only to mourn the dead but also to resist the broader, far-reaching objectives of the genocidal policy. This work enhances our understanding of the interplay between genocide commemoration and resistance.