Kurdish literature

The importance of Kurdish literature in today's society is undeniable. Whether it is a current topic or a historical event, Kurdish literature plays a vital role in people's lives. Over the years, Kurdish literature has been the subject of debate, analysis and reflection in different areas, from politics and economics to culture and entertainment. In this article, we will explore the impact of Kurdish literature on everyday life, as well as its influence on decision-making and human behavior. From its importance in the workplace to its influence on mental and emotional health, Kurdish literature has a reach that transcends borders and time.

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Kurdish literature (Kurdish: وێژەی کوردی, romanized: Wêjeya kurdî or ئەدەبی کوردی) is literature written in the Kurdish languages. Literary Kurdish works have been written in each of the six main Kurdish languages: Zaza, Gorani, Kurmanji, Sorani, Laki and Southern Kurdish. Balül, a 9th-century poet and religious scholar of the Yarsani faith, is the first well-known poet who wrote in Gorani Kurdish.[1] Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. He wrote the romantic epic Mem û Zîn in Kurmanji, sometimes considered the Kurdish national epic. Sorani poetry developed mainly after the late 18th century.

Most written Kurdish literature was poetry until the 20th century, when prose genres began to be developed.[2]

Zazaki-Gorani literature

See also: Yarsanism § Holy texts
A manuscript of Kurdish Shahnameh from the archive of legacy committee of Vejin in Mariwan

Zaza and Gorani (also known as Hewrami) are two Northwestern Iranian languages which are linguistically distinct from the Kurdish languages, although most of their speakers consider themselves Kurds.[3] Gorani was once a literary language, although its literary variety differs in many ways from the local language called Hewrami. It was particularly in use at the court of the Ardalan emirate based in Sanandaj. The religious texts of the Yarsanis are written in Gorani.[3] Some of the well-known Gorani-language poets and writers are Mele Perîşan (1356–1431), Shaykh Mustafa Takhtayi, Mistefa Bêsaranî (1642–1701), Muhammad Kandulayi (late 17th century), Khana Qubadi (1700–1759), Shayda Awrami (1784–1852) and Mastoureh Ardalan (1805–1848).

A small amount of literature in the Zaza language has been published. Some writers, mainly Sweden-based authors like Mehemed Malmîsanij and Ebubekir Pamukçu, write in Zaza.[3]

Kurmanji literature

Classical

The earliest "proper 'text'" written in Kurdish[4] is a Kurmanji translation of a Christian prayer in Armenian letters, copied between 1430 and 1446 and preserved in an Armenian manuscript. Besides this, the earliest written works in Kurdish are from the 16th and 17th centuries.[5] Information about the earliest Kurdish poets is incomplete. The dates for authors given by Mahmud Bayazidi, once the sole source for the subject, are not considered reliable. Little information survives about Ali Hariri,[2] whom Bayazidi dated to the 15th century but who, according to Thomas Blois, should be placed later.[6] Melayê Cizîrî (1570–1640) is said to have been the founder of a school of Kurmanji poets who wrote in the sub-dialect of Jazira/Bohtan. Cizîrî left behind a large number of poems, including qasidas (odes) and ghazals (lyrics), some of which are still popular. Feqiyê Teyran (1590–1660) was supposedly Cizîrî's student. He also wrote qasidas and ghazals, and he was the first known Kurdish poet to write narrative poems using the mathnawi (couplet) form.[2] His Hikayeta Şêxê Sen'an (The story of Sheikh Sen'an) is a well-known epic poem.[7]

Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. His long romantic epic Mem û Zîn (Mem and Zin) tells the story of two lovers from rival noble houses whose families prevent them from marrying. It is sometimes viewed as the Kurdish national epic. It may have drawn from the Kurdish popular epic Memî Alan and perhaps also from Nizami Ganjavi's Layla and Majnun.[2] Khani followed classical literary conventions when composing the work.[6] He also wrote a versified Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary for students titled Nûbihara Biçûkan (New spring for children) and a religious poem called Eqîda Îmanê (Faith in the religion).[2] His student was Ismaîlê Bayazidî (1654–1709), author of many Kurdish poems and a Kurmanci-Arabic-Persian glossary titled Gulzar (Rose garden).[6]

Mela Huseynê Bateyî, who was born sometime in the 17th and died in the mid-18th century,[8] wrote a mawlud (i.e., a poem about the Prophet Muhammad's birth) and a poem about morality and manners, which was apparently so popular that the Yazidis adopted it as part of their oral religious literature.[2] In the 18th century, Şerif Xan (1682–1748), a member of the ruling family of Hakkari, wrote many poems in Kurmanji and Persian, and Mûrad Xan from Bayazid (1736–1778) authored many lyrical poems.[6]

Yazidi literature

See also: Yazidi literature

The Yazidis are a Kurmanji-speaking ethno-religious group whose religious texts have been passed down mostly orally. In 1911 and 1913, two Kurmanji texts called the Meshefa Reş and the Kitêba Cilvê, were published. These were purported to be the sacred books of the Yazidis, but they were really written in modern times by non-Yazidis. The oldest versions of the books were found in the 1880s and were written in Arabic, not Kurdish.[9] Nevertheless, at least some part of the books corresponds to actual Yazidi religious tradition.[10]

Sorani literature

A manuscript of Ahmadi dictionary by Shex Marof Nodê (1753-1838) from the archive of legacy committee of Vejin. This manuscript is written in 1928.

In contrast to Kurmanji, literary works in Sorani were not abundant before the late 18th and early 19th century. Although many poets before Nalî have written in Sorani,[11] it was only after him that Sorani became an important dialect in writing.[12] Nalî was the first poet to write a diwan (collection of poems) in this dialect. Others, such as Salim and Kurdi, wrote in Sorani in the early 19th century as well.[13] Haji Qadir Koyi of Koy Sanjaq in central Kurdistan (1817–1897), and Sheikh Reza Talabani (1835–1909) also wrote in Sorani dialect after Nalî. The closeness of the two dialects of Sorani and Kurmanji is cited as one of the reasons for the late start in Sorani literature, as well as the fact that during 15th to 19th century, there was a rich literary tradition in the Kurmanji dialect. Furthermore, the presence of the Gorani dialect as a literary language and its connection to Yarsanism and Ardalan dynasty was another reason that people did not produce texts in Sorani.[11][14]

A historical list of Kurdish literature and poets

Main article: List of Kurdish people

Religious

  • Mishefa Reş, The religious book of the Yezidis.[15] (in French) It is held to have been written by Shaykh Hasan (born c. AD 1195), a nephew of Shaykh Adi ibn Musâfir, the sacred prophet of the Yezidis. However, it has been argued that it was actually written in the 20th century by Kurds who were not themselves Yezidis.[9]
  • Serencam, The book of Yarsan.

Goranî dialect

Famous poets in Kurmancî dialect

  • Mela Hesenê Bateyî (Melayê Bateyî) (1417–1491) of Hekkarî, the author of Mewlûda Kurmancî (Birthday in Kurmanji), a collection of poems.
  • Melayê Cizîrî (Mela Ehmedê Cizîrî) (1570–1640) of Bohtan region, poet and Sufi.
  • Faqi Tayran (Feqiyê Teyran) (1590–1660) Student of Melayê Cezîrî. He is credited for contributing the earliest literary account of the Battle of Dimdim in 1609–1610 between Kurds and Safavid Empire.
  • Ahmad Khani (Ehmedê Xanî) (1651–1707) (The epic drama of Mem û Zîn) (Born in Hakkari, Turkey)
  • Mahmud Bayazidi (Mahmud Bayazidi), (1797–1859) Kurdish writer.

Soranî dialect

Kurdish poets and writers of the 20th century

Celadet Bedir Khan
Nado Makhmudov
Hejar
  • Alişer (1862–1937), poet and rebel leader, Ottoman Empire/Turkey.
  • Nari Mela Kake Heme (1874–1944), poet, born and died in Marivan, Iran.
  • Piramerd (Tewfîq Beg Mehmûd Axa, 1867–1950), poet, writer, playwright and journalist, Ottoman Empire/Iraq.
  • Celadet Alî Bedirxan (1893–1951), writer, journalist and linguist. Author of the modern Kurmanji Latin alphabet.
  • Arab Shamilov (Erebê Şemo, 1897–1978), Kurdish novelist in Armenia. Author of the first Kurdish novel.
  • Cigerxwîn (Jigarkhwin, real name Sheikhmous Hasan, 1903–1984), poet, born in Mardin, Ottoman Empire. Died in Sweden.
  • Abdulla Goran (1904–1962), the founder of modern Kurdish poetry, Iraq.
  • Osman Sabri (1905–1993), Kurdish poet, writer and journalist, Turkey/Syria.
  • Nado Makhmudov (1907–1990), Kurdish writer and public figure, Armenia.
  • Hemin Mukriyani (1920–1986) poet and journalist, Iran.
  • Hejar (real name Abdurrahman Sharafkandi, 1920–1990), poet, writer, translator and linguist, Iran.
  • Jamal Nebez (1933–2018), writer, linguist, translator and academic, Germany.
  • Sherko Bekas (1940–2013), poet, Iraqi Kurdistan. His poems have been translated into over 10 languages.
  • Latif Halmat (born 1947), poet, Iraqi Kurdistan.
  • Abdulla Pashew (born 1947), poet, Iraqi Kurdistan.
  • Salim Barakat (born 1951), poet, writer, and novelist, Syria.
  • Rafiq Sabir (born 1950), poet, Sweden.
  • Mehmed Uzun (1953–2007), contemporary writer and novelist, Turkey/Sweden
  • Firat Cewerî (born 1959), contemporary writer and novelist, Turkey/Sweden.
  • Jan Dost (born 1965), writer and novelist, Syria.
  • İbrahim Halil Baran (born 1981), poet, writer and designer.
  • Azad Zal (born 1972), writer, journalist, translator, poet, linguist and lexicographer
  • Suwara Ilkhanizada (1937–1976), among the first poets that composed modern poems in Kurdistan.

Kurdish poets and writers of the 21st century

See also

References

  1. ^ Borekeyî-Sefîzade, Sedîq (2008). Mêjûy Wêjey Kurdî مێژووی وێژەی کوردی [History of Kurdish literature] (in Central Kurdish). 3 vols. Hewlêr : Aras. OCLC 691929012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (2005). "Kurdish Written Literature". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Allison, Christine (2007). "'The Kurds are Alive': Kurdish in Iraq". In Postgate, J. N. (ed.). Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern. British School of Archaeology in Iraq. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-0-903472-21-0.
  4. ^ Öpengin, Ergin (22 April 2021). "The History of Kurdish and the Development of Literary Kurmanji". In Bozarslan, Hamit; Gunes, Cengiz; Yadirgi, Veli (eds.). The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge University Press. pp. 613–614. doi:10.1017/9781108623711.025. ISBN 978-1-108-62371-1.
  5. ^ Asatrian, Garnik (2009). "Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds". Iran & the Caucasus. 13 (1): 15–16. ISSN 1609-8498.
  6. ^ a b c d Bois, Th. (2012) . Bearman, P. (ed.). "Kurds, Kurdistān vi.—Folklore and Literature". Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0544.
  7. ^ Ghaderi, Farangis (2021). "A History of Kurdish Poetry". In Bozarslan, H.; Gunes, C.; Yadirgi, V. (eds.). The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge University Press. p. 712. doi:10.1017/9781108623711.029. ISBN 9781108623711.
  8. ^ Öztürk, Mustafa (2018). "Süleyman Çelebi ve Mela Huseynê Bateyî'nin Mevlidlerine Karşılaştırmalı Bir Bakış" (PDF). Turkish Studies. 13: 397.
  9. ^ a b Allison, Christine (2004). "Yazidis i. General". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
  10. ^ Omarkhali, Khanna. "Kitāb al-Jilwa". Encyclopedia of Islam, Third Edition. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_35639.
  11. ^ a b Kheznedar, Marif (2002). Mêjûy edebî kurdî مێژووی ئەدەبی کوردی [History of Kurdish literature] (in Kurdish). Erbil: Aras.
  12. ^ Sajjadi, Ala'edin (1951). Mêjûy edebî kurdî مێژووی ئەدەبی کوردی [History of Kurdish literature] (in Kurdish). Baghdad: Ma'aref.
  13. ^ Hitchins, Keith (2010). "Nalî". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
  14. ^ Mackenzie, D. N. (2002). "Gurāni". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. XI/4: Greece VIII–Hadith II (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. pp. 401–403.
  15. ^ "Kurdish Institute Of Brussel - Enstituya Kurdî Ya Bruskelê - Instituut Kurde De Bruxelles - Koerdisch Instuut Te Brussel". Kurdishinstitute.be. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2013.

Further reading

  • Blau, Joyce (2010). "Written Kurdish literature". In Kreyenbroek, P. G.; Marzolph, U. (eds.). Oral Literature of Iranian Languages. Vol. II. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 1–32.