Introduction

In this chapter, the concept of Kurdish literature will be discussed thoroughly. It is meant to,
first and foremost, define the concept, and the extension of Kurdish literature, and it’s
connotation. Furthermore, this chapter will shead light on the classical and modern periods of
Kurdish literature. By comparing these periods, this chapter will discuss how the modern
period and rise of nation- states has have caused division in the content and mission of
Kurdish literature. Through discussing these characteristic features of Kurdish literature, this
chapter will measure the possible effects of literature on the Kurdish nationalist movement
and, at the same time, the reflection of the nationalist movement on Kurdish literature. Thise
article chapter argues that there is a clear relationship among between the political situation
and the flourishing of the Kurdish literature. In other words, whenever the political conditions
are supportive of democratic rights, Kurdish literature flourishes and develops. Kurdish
literature has played a decisive role in showing the long existence of a people with their own
linguistic and cultural peculiarities different from the other dominant ethnic groups and
nations in the Middle East. This chapter aims to shed light on Kurdish literature in its both
classical and modern forms and periods. At the same time the characteristic features of
Kurdish literature in both periods will be discussed. The rise of the modern Kurdish literary
discourse coincides with the emergence of the new nation states in the region following the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The new era affects both the form and content of Kurdish
literature.

Kurdish literature: definition and connotation

As Because of the emergence of the nation- states, there has have been clear associations
between the labelling of a certain literature and the related nation- states. In fact, any
reference to the various literatures based on the used language cannot free itself from
indicating its belonging to a certain country, i.e., nation- state. obvious An obvious example
is of course English literature, which despite being written in the English language, is
ultimately divided into some subdivisions linked to the English-speaking countries, i.e.,
America, England, Canada, and Australia. In other words, the literature of a certain nation is
not solely identified by its language. The identity of the literatures is not necessarily indicated
by the language, but by the cultural and constructed features of the nation- states.
Furthermore, the literature produced in languages that are common for more than one nation
state, e.g., Arabic, Spanish, and Swahili, carry the various existing socio-political conditions
of the nation- states they belong to. Any study of these literatures is supposed to take the
context of each nation state into consideration.

If by a certain literature, one means a unified literature, which is produced in a certain

language, and orthography in a certain country, it cannot be applied to Kurdish literature. On
the contrary, Kurdish literature refers to a diverse body of literature in different dialects and
even different orthographies in at least five different and sometimes hostile nation- states.
Kurdish literature, due to the specific historical and political conditions of the Kurds and their
lack of a nation- state, which aims to unite them culturally and politically, can hardly be
described as a definable and concrete literature with some distinguished features. Having
been subjected to the various political, economic, cultural, and linguistic strategies of at least
four nation- states in the Middle East, i.e., Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria since the early
decades of the 20th 20th century, one can talk about Kurdish literatures rather a Kurdish
literature.

Nation- states usually contributed to the establishment of a unified education system with a
certain language, which resulted in the development of the language and its
standardisationstandardization. Different dialects of the language being used by the public
sphere and its various institutions become closer to each other and a standardised
standardized language dominates the communication and education system of a certain nation
state. This general fact does not includes Kurdish language and its dialects. On the contrary,
while the establishment of the nation states and the policy of modernisation modernization
speeded up the process of the standardisation standardization of the “‘national”’ and
“‘official”’ languages, e.g., Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, the Kurdish language was left
behind the facilities of modernisationmodernization. Consequently, the politics conducted by
the nation- states that, which governs the Kurds, have has resulted in a much more
fragmented and divided linguistic identity of the Kurds. Subsequently, Kurdish literature has
been mainly produced in two dialects, i.e., Northern and Central Kurdish, and in three
orthographies, i.e., Cyrillic in the former Soviet Union, Latin in Turkey and Syria, and a
modified Arabic/Aramaic orthography in Iraq and Iran.

Classical Kurdish literature

Until the early 20th 20th century, Kurdish classical literature was nothing except for Kurdish
poetry. In fact, it was the only poetry that used to be considered as literature in almost all
neighbouring communities. Similarly to many Middle Eastern literatures, Kurdish literature
was dominated by Kurdish poetry for many centuries. This firmly established tradition has
been very central to Kurdish literature even during the golden period of the Kurdish prosaic
literature in the 20th 20th century. The Kurdish poetic heritage was in fact a part of the
dominant Arabic and Persian literary cultural capital in the Islamic context of the second half
of the second millennium.

Indicating the genealogies of Kurdish literature is a challenging question. The challenges are
mainly rooted in our modern perception of the Kurdish language and its dialectal divisions.
Regardless of the ways we perceive the diachronic development of the various dialects of the
Kurdish language, there are at least three different classical heritages for what we call
Kurdish language synchronically. These three classical heritages originated in different parts
of Kurdistan within the frame of both the Ottoman, and Safavid/Qajar empires.

A major division in the territories where the Kurds were the main inhabitants had occurred
following the determining Battle of Chaldiran between the Ottomans and the Safavids in
1514. Following this struggle, the Kurds and their territories acted as a buffer between the
two competing Empiresempires. Several Kurdish principalities (emirates) acted as the rulers
of the vast Kurdish areas within the framework of both Empiresempires. These principalities
were in a close relation with the Empiresempires, but enjoyed a semi-autonomous status.
Among the well- established and powerful principalities, one can refer to Botan, which
became the centre for the rise of the early Kurdish literary figures.