The Remediation of the Armenian Genocide through fiction film in the period 1919-2021

The memory culture of the Armenian genocide has undergone a process of construction and change. This construction and change are formed through the remediation of media. This thesis has analysed four fictional films, using an in-depth film analysis, to understand how the memory culture of the Armenian genocide has changed over 104 years starting in 1919. This has been done because the memory culture of the Armenian genocide is still denied by the Turkish government. Central in analysis were three concepts, sexual violence, cultural trauma and postmemory, that are important aspects of the Armenian genocide. First, sexual violence has been mediated in Auction of Souls (1919) as a Christian suffering in the East, thereby drawing upon Christian iconography to make an appeal the American audience. Aurora’s Sunrise (2022) deconstructed this mediation and remediated sexual violence as a forgotten aspect of the genocide were the Armenian women suffered. Secondly cultural trauma has been mediated by Nahapet (1977) as a national trauma of Armenia. It did so by connecting the personal trauma of Nahapet with that of the nation through the symbol of the apple tree. Ararat (2002) remediated cultural trauma of the Armenian genocide as a diasporic trauma. Ararat used two film-within-afilm techniques to relate the personal traumas of the Canadian Armenian characters to that of the diasporic one, thereby altering the memory culture of the Armenian genocide. Lastly, Aurora’s Sunrise remediated cultural trauma as a trauma for the Armenian people. The film retells the story of survivor Aurora and connects her trauma to that of the Armenians. The film shies away from nationalistic or diasporic tendencies and establishes the memory culture of the Armenian genocide as a trauma for the Armenians. Thirdly, postmemory has been mediated in Ararat to understand how trauma is carried across generations. Through its use of different Canadian characters, it established that one who does have a connection with the Armenian genocide is still tormented by that past. Therefore, Ararat adds an important part in the memory culture of the Armenian genocide, that of generational trauma.