Languages and the Definition of Literature: The Blurred Borders of Kurdish Literature in Contemporary Turkey

Abstract

Because of the multiplicity of Kurdish languages and because of the ban on Kurdish for several decades in Turkey, Kurdish literary activities developed in a specific way, using different languages, and often carrying political aims. This article presents one of the main debates animating today the world of Kurdish literature: how are Kurdish literature and the Kurdish literary world to be defined? Focusing mainly on the issue of the uses of languages, the analysis shows that Kurdish literature cannot easily be defined as the literature written exclusively in Kurdish. Indeed, Kurdish literature includes Turkish-language writers; its world is open and participates partly with the Turkish literary field.In such an open social world, the use of languages can become a literary strategy enabling a writer to pass from one world to another, thus reinforcing the fluctuating definition and the blurred borders of Kurdish literature.