Modern Assyrian identity and the Church of the East, an exploration of their relationship and the rise of Assyrian nationalism, from the World Wars to 1980

grantor: University of St. Michael's CollegeAt the beginning of the twentieth century, the boundaries of the modern Assyrian community were determined primarily by religious adherence, that is, affiliation with the Church of the East, sometimes called the “Nestorian” Church. But experiences and changes in orientation undergone by the Assyrians during the twentieth century—including encounters with other manifestations of nationalism, the coming together of Assyrians across regional divides and of Syriac-speakers of all denominations, and the rise of an active Assyrian diaspora—worked to promote a shift in Assyrian communal self-conception that emphasized the “ethnic” qualities of language and ancestry, rather than religious adherence. Nevertheless, the Church of the East continued to play an important role in the new secularized Assyrian identity, one that both made it a natural “ally” of the nationalist movement and also a stumbling block to the realization of nationalistic goals.M.A