''Salbi'' (Սալբի Salpy) is an

Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...

novel by the novelist

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

. Although his earliest novel, written 1855-1874, it was not published until 1911.The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the eighteenth ..Agop Jack Hacikyan, Gabriel Basmajian, Edward S. Franchuk - 2005 . -0814332218 Page 97 "Raffi's earliest novel, Salbi, was not published until 1911, although he began to write it in early 1855, even before the publication of Abovian's Verk Hayastani (1858)."

General Description

The ideological essence of the novel "Salbi" is the issue of national liberation. According to the author, Rustam, the novel's hero, who rebels against the dictatorship, is the birth of free nature and unfair human life. Rustam and Salbu, the image of a leading Armenian woman, are opposed by the Armenian clergy, merchants, and the humble servants of the Persian khans, ter-Maruk, ter-Markos, Solomon-bek Avazakyants, and others. All these are allied with the Persian feudal-barbarian power by their class nature and enjoy its patronage. The novel "Salbi" is a romantic work. In it, the characters are built with the absolute contrast of positive and negative, internal and external features. The plot situations of the novel are also romantic; they are exceptional, supernatural, and shrouded in mythical mystery. Actions in the novel are dynamic. The author's imagination has given birth to lively scenes, which are given with lavish descriptions.

References

1874 novels Novels by Raffi (novelist) Armenian-language novels {{Armenia-stub