|
Just as the alphabet and writing were invented the first literature monuments in Armenian language started to appear. They are dated the 5th – 7th centuries. The most prominent are the historical works by Movses Khorenatsi. His “ History of Armenia” contains the data on the countries of Western Asia.Khorenatsi managed to preserve the precious specimens of oral national poetry in his works. He mentioned songs and legends sung by people during his time. Another well-known author of medieval epoch was Koryun who described the life of Mashtots and did a number of translations of theological books into Armenian.
Armenian poetry also was reached its blossoming. Widely known were the names of poets Grigor Narekatsi (10 th century) who created the poem titled the Book of Mournful Church Chanting - one of the monuments of the world's literature, Nerses Shorali (10 th century), Frick (13 th century). The great hand-written heritage of Armenian people – more than 15 thousand manuscripts on history, philosophy, law, medicine, mathematics, natural sciences, astronomy, and music are stored in one of the largest world's centers of hand-written culture – Mesrop Mashtots Matendaran. The first Armenian was printed in the 15 th century. In the 19 th century the literature of Armenia was developing under the influence of Russian and West European cultures.
|
