Journal of Kurdish Studies

The Kurdish of Mull� Sa'�d Shamd�n�n�

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 09:15:27 GMT

A lifetime ago, in 1917, the First World War was approaching its end. On the Caucasian front all was relatively quiet. Russian troops were still in occupation of large areas of eastern Turkey and Persian Azerbaijan, though Russia itself was in turmoil and on the brink of the Bolshevist revolution. The Imperial Russian consul in Tabriz, The Azerbaijani capital, was Vasilij Nikitin and under his charge were many 'Turkish' Kurds, who had thrown themselves on the mercy of the Russians. To help him in his contacts with the Kurds Nikitin had already in 1916 taken into his employ, as secretary and language teacher, a certain Mullā Sa'īd.

The Law�j of M�r Bas�li�s Shim'�n

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 09:09:37 GMT

At a time when the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq are facing considerable hardships and indeed serious threats, it may seem frivolous to devote time, energy and space to the study of a Christian hymn in Kurdish, composed in the 18th century and preserved in Syriac script. However, recognition of Kurdish identity -and thus of language and culture- is perhaps teh one aim in which all Kurds involved in the struggle against oppression have in common; it is hoped that the present study will help their cause, albeit indirectly, by illustrating the richness and complexity of Kurdish literature.

Remarques sur l'histoire des relations kurdo-arm�niennes

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 09:06:15 GMT

Toute tentative d'analyser les relations kurdo-arm�niennes se heurte, comme le montre l'�tat de la litt�rature, � de nombreuses difficult�es li�es aux clich�s et au manque de sources fiables. Le chercheur est �galement confront� � la 'perte de m�moire' qui a pris des proportions gigantesques, au point de faire oublier en Turquie que jadis, sur le territoire dit national, vivaient de larges groupes non-musulmans, notamment arm�niens. La rupture que le k�malisme voulait introduire dans l'histoire de l'Asie Mineure, condamnait toutes les p�riodes pr�-1923 � l'oubli sinon � la mal�diction. Les �l�ments ethniques qui marqu�rent les �poques pr�c�dentes ne pouvaint, par cons�quent, avoir droit de cit� en Turquie, encore moins dans son histoire.

The Sheikh Said Rebellion

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 09:01:03 GMT

The Sheikh Said rebellion is a fundamental factor in the development of modern Kurdish nationalism; it is also a fundamental development in modern Turkish nationalism. The suppression of Sheikh Said's rebellion dealt a severe blow to Kurdish nationalism in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. It contributed to squashing Kurdish nationalism in northwestern Iraq by Reza Khan and to British control and direction of Kurdish nationalism in northern Iraq. It should be pointed out here that the suppression of the Kurds in Iran after 1925 by Reza Khan was accomplished in part of the use of the nascent Iranian Air Force. In Iraq the Royal AIr Force (RAF) was, of course, instrumental in Great Britain's occupation of northern Iraq from 1918 to 1920: the latter date at which Britain became the mandatory power in Iraq.

Vie et oeuvre de Thomas Bois, 1900-1975

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:54:44 GMT

Le P�re Thomas Bois O.P., victime d'une d�faillance cardiaque, s'est �teint dans la nuit du 4 au 5 septembre 1975 � l'H�pital du Perp�tuel Secours � Levallois, dans la banlieue parisienne, apr�s une carri�re fructueuse et exemplaire. Savant, travailleur acharn�, chercheur infatigable, ol a laiss� une oeuvre scientifique importante. Ses �crits et ses recherches dans tous les domaines de la kurdologie - litt�rature, histoire et sociologie - sont estim�s par les p�cialistes et par les Kurdes eux-m�mes.

The Italian Contribution to Kurdology (13th to 20th Century)

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:50:55 GMT

After Greek and Latin, Arabic and Kurdish classical sources, a European literature on the Kurds developed. The French, English and German writings are widely known, but the Italian sources, among the oldest, are also the least known, even though they are of extraordinary interest. The primary sources dating from the 13th to the 19th century demostraate continuity i nrelations between Kurdistan and Italy and were rwritten by travellers ,diplomats, missionaries and lerchants who crossed Kurdistan to get to Persia or Mesopotamia. WIth the exception of th works on the subject written by Domenico Lanza, Maurizio Grarzoni, Guiseppe Campanile and Alessandro De Bianchi, Italian travellers left only short notes on the Kurds and Kurdistan because their acquaintance with the region was limited to the time necessary to cross it.

Kurdish Nationalism in Iran

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:44:43 GMT

The object of this essay is to explain the discursive formation and political practice of the Kurdish nationalist movement in Iranian Kurdistan from 1942-1947, a brief but cruical period culminating in the establishment of the Kurdish Republic in 1946. The essay outlines the historical specificity of the Kurdish society in Iran during this period, and assesses the relative significance of traditional modern political and cultural relations and forcces in the formation and development of Kurdish nationalist discourse and practice. It argues that the specificity of of the Kurdish national movement in Iran, its structural dynamicsq and the modality of its development, should be sought in the changing relationship between the Kurdish society and the modern state in Iran. This relationship, which was filtered through a complex structure of traditional forces and institutions, determined the political organisation, discursive formation and strategic objectives of the Kurdish movements in Iranian Kurdistan in the period under consideration.

Hakk�r� Clan and Society

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:38:09 GMT

The history of the Hakk�r� clan was written by chroniclers who generally held a pessimistic view of human society originating in universalist or cosmological precepts of history. In one degree or another, the chroniclers felt that the carnal world would end in destruction and oblivion in a great apocalyptic immolation. Only the celestial world would survive the great Apocalypse, while all huma endeavor which either defended that celestial world or sought to attain it would achieve salvation and reunion with the celestial being. Most chroniclers at least formally accepted this doctrine as a convention of thought important to maintenance of religious beliefs in one degree or another. Even those who adopted an almost mockinly ironical or satiric view of human behavior in their annals, still rooted their philosophy in the universal understanding of human nature. With this beginning point, one can begin the study of Hakk�r� clan's history.

Le grammaire historique du kurde

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:31:06 GMT

Contrairement aux langues iraniennes orientales, les langues iraniennes occidentales n'ont pas fait l'objet, depuis de nombreuses ann�es, d'�tudes historiques approfondies ou d'ouvrages de r�f�rence adoptant une perspective diachronique. Le persan est � cet �gard, particuli�rement n�glig�.

Oral History in Kurdistan

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:28:50 GMT

Like other histories, Kurdish history is a construct of the past. However, Kurdish history differs from the history of most other peoples in being unsupported either by coherent propagation systems such as state education and media, or by international affirmation. Kurd must fashion their own history, to meet their own needs, in opposition to many of the ideologies prevalent in the Middle East, some of which have sought to deny the very past, by having one's own account of history, is a perfectly ordinary need of most communities; for the Kurds it has becomea key element of self-determination.

The Kurds and the City

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:24:25 GMT

The romantic stereotype of the Kurds as a people of nomads and mountain guerillas still holds sway over much of the popular, and part of the scholarly, imagination. This image has tended to downplay several important recent social and political developments among the Kurds. The fact of the matter is that in Turkey as well as Iraq and Iran, the Kurdish population has become predominantly, if not overwhelmingly, urban in the past decades.

La ville dans la litt�rature kurmanji moderne

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:21:06 GMT

Ne connaissant pas v�ritablement les ville kurdes - je ne suis all�e qu'une seule fois au Kurdistan - j'ai choisi ce sujet litt�raire en fonction de l'imag ede la ville telle qu'elle appara�t dans la litt�rature kurde et, pour ce faire, je me suis limit�e aux courts r�cits en kurmanji (kurde septentrional) des ann�es 1980-1990 publi� dans des revues et magazines, tels H�v� (l'Espoir) et N�dem (les Temps nouveaux). Les vingt et un auteurs de ces nouvelles sont, pour la plupart, des Kurdes de Turquie.

Kurdish Prose (1945-1961)

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:17:25 GMT

Kurdish literature, like that of any other Middle Eastern people, began with poetry, and poetry has always been more developed and more familiar than prose. Even as late as the last quarter of the nineteenth century prose did not have an important place in Kurdish literature. But a cultural renaissance, which coincided with the spread of nationalist ideas, led to the appearance of Kurdish press (a Kurdish newspaper was founded in Cairo in 1898) and gave impetus to the use of prose generally.