National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia
“Geghard” Scientific Analytical Foundation, Researcher
Master's Degree
monika.mirzoyan7@gmail.com
ORCID - 0000-0002-8053-7152
The Influence of Russian Imperial Policy on Armenian Publications in the Nineteenth Century: Tiflis as a Center of Armenian Print Culture
Abstract
This report examines the impact of Russian imperial censorship and administrative policies on the development of Armenian book and periodical publishing in Tiflis during the nineteenth century. As one of the most important Armenian cultural and publishing centers within the Russian Empire, Tiflis played a significant role in the formation of modern Armenian national consciousness. The city’s Armenian print culture developed through a network of local publishing institutions, beginning with the establishment of the press of Nerses Ashtaraketsi in 1819, considered the first Armenian printing house in Tiflis and one of the earliest Armenian presses in the broader Georgian context. Later establishments, including the Enfiajyants press, demonstrate the continuity and institutional development of Armenian publishing activity in the city.
The study focuses on the ways imperial censorship shaped the thematic and intellectual direction of Armenian publications. Throughout the nineteenth century, Armenian publishers and writers operated within the framework of the tsarist censorship system, which regulated the production and circulation of printed materials. The Caucasus Censorship Committee served as a central mechanism of supervision, and imperial restrictions increasingly limited the expression of political demands in Armenian-language publications. These conditions influenced the strategies of Armenian publishers, who gradually shifted their focus from direct political discussion toward cultural, educational, and literary fields.
This restriction of political discourse produced a complex outcome. Rather than bringing Armenian intellectual activity to a halt, censorship redirected publishing efforts toward history, philology, pedagogy, religious studies, and fiction. Books and periodicals became important instruments for preserving historical memory, developing the Armenian literary language, and strengthening cultural connections among geographically dispersed Armenian communities. Journalists, scholars, and writers used the press as a means of shaping a more conscious national community through education, literary criticism, and the circulation of shared cultural values.
Particular attention is given to the role of translated literature, especially translations from Russian, in Armenian periodicals published in Tiflis. The presence of Russian literary works reflected the cultural influence of the empire and the prestige of its major literary figures. At the same time, translation served as an important tool for intellectual and linguistic development: it introduced new literary forms, expanded the horizons of Armenian readers, contributed to the modernization of the Armenian literary language, and supported the formation of new educational and ethical ideals.
The report argues that Armenian publishing in Tiflis developed within a dynamic tension between imperial control and the Armenian national enlightenment movement. Although censorship restricted political expression, it also shaped a distinctive sphere of cultural production in which Armenian intellectuals pursued historical awareness, linguistic development, and literary renewal. Under these conditions, print culture became one of the main foundations for the formation of the modern Armenian intellectual tradition and a central space for the negotiation of identity within the Russian Empire.
Keywords (English): Tiflis; Russian Empire; imperial censorship; Armenian publishing houses; nineteenth-century Armenian press; national identity; Armenian enlightenment movement; translated literature; Armenian periodicals; literary modernization.
The paper by M. Mirzoyan was prepared with the support of the Higher Education and Science Committee of the Republic of Armenia, research project no. 1-29/24RL-6A032 (project head — Gor Margaryan).