The Fool (novel)
1880 novel by Raffi
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The Fool (Armenian: Խենթը, Khent’ë, Armenian pronunciation: [χɛntʰə]) is an 1880 Armenian-language novel by the Armenian writer Raffi, one of the best-known novels by one of Armenia's greatest novelists.[1] Set during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the plot tells a romance set against the background of the divided Armenian nation.
| |
| Author | Raffi |
|---|---|
| Original title | Խենթը |
| Translator | Jane S. Wingate |
| Language | Armenian |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Shusha: Mirzajan Mahtesi-Hakobiants (Armenian 1st ed.) Boston: Baikar Press (English 1st. ed) |
| Publication date | 1881 |
| Publication place | Russian Empire |
Published in English | 1950 |
| Pages | ii+400 (Armenian 1st ed.) 361 (English 1st ed.) |
| OCLC | 9588669 |
| Original text | Խենթը at Armenian Wikisource |
Publication
The novel was first serialized in the Tiflis newspaper Mshak in 1880, then published as a separate edition in Shusha in 1881.[2]
Setting and structure
The novel is set in three districts near the border between the Russian and Ottoman Empires: Bayazit, Alashkert, and Vagharshapat.
The novel opens with four fast-paced chapters describing the Turkish siege of Bayazit, a historic episode from the last Russo-Turkish war.[3] After a harrowing depiction of the battle, its outcome is left in suspense as chapter five suddenly shifts the focus to an earlier time to tell the story of a village in Alashkert and a romance caught in the treacherous sociopolitical crosscurrents of the war. The succeeding twenty-nine chapters present a rich ethnographic account of country life in this particular region of Western Armenia, while depicting the ideological themes that dominated Armenian life at the time through a set of powerful, competing actors. The novel concludes in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin).
