Jalaleddin (novel)

Jalaleddin

Author	Raffi
Translator	Donald Abcarian
Language	English
Publisher	Taderon Press
Publication date	2006

By Frank Feller

Jalaleddin (Ջալալեդդին, Arm.) was the first of Raffi's famous historical novels^[1] and a milestone in modern Armenian literature.^[2] First published in May 1878 exactly one year after the events depicted, its title is based on Sheikh Jalaleddin,^[3] a Kurdish chieftain who led his forces on a violent campaign against Armenian and Assyrian villages in the eastern part of Van province at the beginning of the last Russo-Turkish War (1877-78). The central theme of the novel is the necessity of self-defense.

References

1. Louise Nalbandian, The Armenian Revolutionary Movement, University of California Press, 1963, p. 64
2. The Heritage of Armenian Literature, vol. 3, Agop J. Hacikyan, ed., Wayne State University Press, 2005, p. 87
3. Kevork B. Bardakjian, A Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature, Wayne State University Press, 2000, p. 145