Vodolazkin emphasises that Matevossian’s love for his homeland was free of aggression.
Vodolazkin recalls discovering Matevossian’s prose forty years before writing his anniversary essay and retaining his love for it.
He explains the choice of Armenian through the writer’s trust in his native language. Vodolazkin distinguishes a deep attachment to Armenia from national superiority: in his view, that attachment enabled Matevossian to speak to the world.