The Kurdish Novel and National Identity-Formation across Borders

Abstract

The role of the novel in the development of national identity has been widely acknowledged by literary and other scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Novelistic discourse in established nation-states is well enough entrenched to address questions related to social and individual identity and stateless nations certainly cannot avoid concentrating on the role of the novel in the construction of national identity. The case of the Kurdish novel is telling in this regard. It also illustrates how the search for national identity is combined with a struggle for democratic rights. By analyzing the themes developed by prominent Kurdish novelists based in four countries with large Kurdish minorities, namely Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, this chapter aims to show how Kurdish narratives challenge the homogenizing policy of existing nation-states, whereby a single identity is imposed on the ethnically and culturally distinct inhabitants of their territory.1 Despite their different social, political, and cultural backgrounds, Kurdish novelists have in common the critical questioning and challenging of existing territorial borders. These novels represent both the cultural and political dimension of Kurdish nationalism and reflect the struggle by Kurdish people for a future, common Kurdish land.2