By New Time
Vestnik Kavkaza continues following cultural life in republics of the North Caucasus and countries of the South Caucasus. Today we publish an interview by the Armenian periodical New Time with the art director of Yerevan Puppet Theater, Ruben Babayan.
- Why does TV promote rubbish?
- To be honest, I don’t watch our TV. However, any person from time to time sits in front of a TV-set and flips through the channels, including myself. And I watch this or that show.
… I think language regress should be considered through a perspective of our routine problems. The “language” reflects our life, our level of thinking and existing. A language cannot exist separately from everyday life. So, speaking about the problem, roots should be found in the conscience, the system of values of our society.
- “People eat this” is a motto of our time. But there are people who don’t like “the food.” However, they keep silence. You say you don’t watch Armenian TV, isn’t it conscious choice? You don’t like it – you don’t watch it. But the problem cannot be solved by ignoring it. Is it a problem of our time?
- We don’t choose time, we live and die in it. There was a lot of dirt in times of Khachaturian, Aivazovsky and Rafael. Dirt is not remembered, unlike great minds who stay in history for centuries. The other thing is orienting points. However, they shouldn’t be connected with time as well. The principle of rating is working on TV; and it requires wide audience, i.e. absence of a high cultural level. But the same principle of rating could work in times of Aram Khachaturian, when all Yerevan turned on Baku Radio at 5 a.m. and listened to songs by Zeinab Khanlarova. And Zeinab concerts were as popular as Aram Khachaturian’s performances. However, there was a system of values which was developed in details and directed preferences and priorities of the society into a right way. The current problem is that people who impose their doubtful taste on the society have no the system of values and refer to false democracy, as if people want it. It is interesting that the public opinion is considered exclusively in questions of “culture,” in other spheres nobody is interested in the public opinion…
… In Armenian “culture” is “mshaluit”, from “mshakel” which means “to cultivate.” You cannot grow culture in a tube; values should be constantly cultivated and promoted. All our current troubles are a result of an irresponsible attitude to our culture. When practical usage of our culture will be realized – either at the dinner table or in the sphere of food for thought – there will be progress. At the moment we eat unnatural food and pollute both our bodies and minds.
… I have recently visited the UAE – I have never felt more discomfort than there. It is a fake country based on surrogates. They have everything, but everything is fake. And it is awful that for the majority of our people the UAE is an ideal model of a society, paradise where they want to live. How can a generation with national priorities be raised with such a spiritual level?
- What would you do, if you had an opportunity to correct our TV? What can make a viewer like you watch national TV channels again?
- … Previously I never watched the First Channel, but today I’m glad to see scientific and educational shows which my children like. There are things that I don’t like, but I understand that a channel cannot satisfy all my preferences. It is public television, i.e. it should satisfy demands of the whole society.
As for KVN (a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams compete by giving funny answers to questions and performing sketches), it doesn’t matter who and how started it, but it is important what were results. The KVN school has both negative and positive moments. For example, an ability to improvise, feel time, show off interestingly and brightly – these are advantages of KVN. For me it is not so important whether a person graduated from circus school or came from KVN, but it is important what conclusions he made, what values he has.
… Rating cannot be a concept; it is one of its components at most. And it is wonderful that the First Channel realizes it.
Regarding the language, today it is being spoiled in series, sitcoms and various talk shows. Audience complains that there is no censorship, mechanisms which would direct and sometimes forbid certain matters. Is it good or bad? There is a successfully approved system in the world – Public Management Councils. We have them as well, but only formally. They don’t decide anything, nothing depends on them.
… Any normal owner of TV understands clearly that he has no sufficient knowledge and taste to define policy of its company alone. I mean not only culture, but any sphere. In the whole world huge concerns and holdings have Public Management Councils which help to develop policy and avoid unnecessary things. I think problems of our TV could be solved by such organizations, rather than censorship.
…TV-slang causes disguise because of its criminal character. A language is a living organism, and it reflects our society. Why is thieves’ slang popular in our society? Because our society is criminalized. When we eliminate criminality as an ideal model of our society, dismiss our illegal president, the language will change. A language is a factor of production, rather than a factor of producing.
At the same time, criminality can be shown on TV, but the point is in a system of values. I don’t think that America of the 1930th was more criminalized than Armenia. But criminality wasn’t a goal, a striving, a living standard there. I think we should establish value TV, a system of values as an example for future generations.
- Hzhde said: “It’s dreadful not that there are Turks, but that there are Turk-like Armenians…”
- I don’t see anything bad in propaganda of any national culture. The UK spends huge resources on promotion of its art; France holds Francophonie Days in Yerevan from time to time… Is it bad? We should learn about it, but not take it and sell it as our own product.
Yes, we have Turkish genome and can’t do anything with this. What should be done? Should we forbid it simply? No way! They will listen to them even harder. We should promote our national culture and fill all gaps for there would be no space for foreign cultures. It is interesting that those who shout that they are true Armenians and hate the Turks and the Azerbaijanis promote foreign culture. Let’s not forbid their culture and cultivate ultranationalist statements, but influence our internal nature. If a person has Armenian nature, there will be no necessity to shout about his or her origin. A person will realize that he or she is an Armenian, and it will be enough! And today an Armenian lacks the conscience. Turkisation, criminal slang, Russian popular music – it is a gum which we are chewing and don’t want to deal seriously with our own culture. Give me Armenian nature, and I will understand everything else…
