Literature

Around 401 A.D., Armenian literature began. Moses of Khorene established the majority of the literary arts in the fifth century. The elements of literature have altered over time as stories and myths have been passed down through generations. Movses Khorenatsi was a well-known Armenian writer of the fifth century. Mesrop Mashtots is credited with inventing the Armenian alphabet. This event, which occurred in the fifth century, is regarded as one of the most significant turning points in Armenian literature. Movses Khorenatsi was also a well-known Armenian historian of late antiquity and the author of the History of the Armenians.

Alexander Tertzakian was a well-known Armenian writer in the late 17th century who wrote several works regarded classics in Armenia. Throughout the nineteenth century, writer Mikael Nalbandian strived to establish a new Armenian literary identity. The Armenian national song, Mer Hayrenik, may have been inspired by Nalbandian's poem "Song of the Italian Girl."

Foreign domination, the Armenian Genocide, and 20th-century Soviet censorship have all hampered the establishment of local literary heritage. Despite these difficulties, local legends were kept and spread through oral storytelling. Modernist authors who continue to express themselves via the written word were given a blank canvas for current Armenian literature in the twentieth century.