Novel
Comrade Panchoonie
Ընկեր Բանչունի
Yervant Odian · 1909
Synopsis
As a child, Pandjouni speaks late, but once started never stops, and terrorises his family and schoolmates whenever he is resisted. As an adult, he lives off a merchant brother who pays him to keep out of the way; when the brother is ruined, he is left penniless, in revolt against capitalism and a socialist. He leaves for the small town of Dsablvar to lead it onto the path of true socialism, and the book consists chiefly of the letters he sends to his comrades, from Dsablvar and then from Van.
Context
The author wrote this book after his return to Constantinople, where the revolution of 1908 had given political life back to the Armenian parties. The comrade's letters then appeared in instalments from 1909, and the volume in 1911. The hero's name plays on the Armenian words meaning “he has nothing”, and the satire is aimed first at the Dashnaks and the Hunchaks. The author had his character born in Trebizond in 1875.
Who it is for
A short, funny novel, made up largely of letters. It helps to know that after 1908 Armenian committees operated openly in the Ottoman Empire.
Prizes and reception
The best-known work of one of the greatest Armenian satirists, translated into French as early as 1961 and into English in 1977.