Analyses of the transformation and political change in Armenia pays noticeable attention to the dominant role of discourses of the Armenian Genocide and the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for nation and state-building processes. At the same time, the two issues usually are investigated separately. Attempts are rarely made to interpret the interrelation and connection between the two narratives. Nevertheless, the trauma-based discourse of memory is linking the two narratives as technology of power through discursive structures/mechanisms of analogy and continuity. Methods of discourse analysis combined with expert interviews, internet questionnaires and ethnographic field research aim to analyse the crucial discursive patterns and mechanisms. Hypothetically, instrumentalized and ideological usage of combined narratives are impacting the political changes, in Post-Soviet Armenia. The article touches upon only one aspect of the discursive interrelation between the Armenian Genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Thus, the subject under the question is the impact of theusage of historical analogy and the idea of continuity understand as technologies on contemporary Armenian politics of memory.

The ethno-political conflict and riots in the South Caucasus, followed by the regular Armenian-Azerbaijani war, constitute the most violent episodes during the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the light of legal and institutional conditions, the conflict remains open as the Bishkek Protocol signed in May 1994 formally constitutes only a ceasefire. As a consequence of its signing, Nagorno-Karabakh’s territory in fact remains an independent state that is not recognised internationally. The permanent state of emergency has a decisive impact on the current relations of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also on the symbolic and political dynamics of transformations occurring in the ethno-political community in the quasi-state. Using ethnographic material collected during field studies conducted over several years, the article attempts to answer the question of how memorial sites devoted to the conflict shape the ethno-political community of Nagorno-Karabakh. Through the exploratory study of this case, in a broader context, I examine the potential of applying the transdisciplinary paradigm of memory research in the analysis of transformations of ethno-political communities in, de facto, independent, non-recognised or partially internationally recognised quasi-states.

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Most of the previous revolutions in the post-Soviet sphere were concentrated around two dimensions: reluctance to challenge abuses of power and the will to redirect the external trajectory. The Armenian Velvet Revolution marked the change of the axiology of revolution. Civil disobedience was only focused on the corrupt political system based on clientelism and patronage. It was not addressing any issues related to the international situation. In statements, activists avoided references to foreign policy and change of geopolitical direction. The purpose of the paper is to identify convergent and separate features characterizing the Velvet Revolution in comparison with breakthroughs classified as revolutions in the post-Soviet space after 1989. The research question is how the Armenian Velvet Revolution’s features stand out from previous revolutionary changes of power in the post-Soviet space, and to what extent they are convergent. The theoretical framework is based on multi-dimensional academic reflection on the factors characterizing particular revolutionary waves in post-Soviet space. Using comparatively the rich achievements of study on the Autumn of Nations, Color Revolutions, and Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, this essay aims to inscribe the unique and modular factors characterizing the Armenian Velvet Revolution into a broader spectrum of theoretical and practical considerations on political breakthroughs in post-Soviet space.