Magin_Edward-thesis

15
Kurdish intellectuals in Turkey lived their lives in exile, many moving to Syria,
where Kurds experienced a period of freedom under the French Mandate, between the
two world wars (Blau 1996:24). Northern Kurdish literature developed greatly during this
time when “Damascus and Beirut became centers for Kurdish intellectual activity”
(Kreyenbroek 2005). Also during this time, the brothers Jeladet Bedir Khan (1893-1961)
and Kamiran Bedir Khan (1895-1978) developed a Kurdish orthography in Latin script,
which remains in use today. The Hawar school, 11 an intellectual center the brothers were
a part of, included Cegerxwîn (1903-1984), the pen name of Şêxmûs Hesen, Qadrîcan
(1914-1974), Reşîd Kurd (1910-68), and Nûredîn Zaza (1919-1988) (Kreyenbroek 2005).
However, after Syria gained independence following the Second World War, “literary
productivity came to an end” (Blau 1996:24) because Kurds lost the freedoms they had
previously gained. Once again, intellectuals fled and published from abroad (Blau
1996:24). Many of those associated with the Hawar school left to continue their activities
in Paris (Kreyenbroek 2005).
Cegerxwîn, who wrote in the Northern Kurdish dialect, had a profound influence
on Turkish and Syrian Kurds, such that some call the time of his writing the Cegerxwîn
period. Shakely (2002) writes, “Cegerxwîn took good care of the old heritage from
Classical poets like Cezîrî and Ahmed Xanî. His poetry is simple and revolutionary with
a strong popular appeal often at the expense of the aesthetic.” Because of his political
convictions, Cegerxwîn―along with two other very popular poets at the time, Hazhar
(1920-1991), penname for Abdurrahman Sharafkandî, and Hemin Mukriyani (1921-
1986)―had to live out much of his life in exile (Shakely 2002).
Kurds in Iraq experienced a limited degree of cultural freedom under the British
Mandate (1920-1932). During the 1920s Iraq became the center of Kurdish cultural life,
and it has continued to develop since that time. As Kurds made contact with the west,
emerging from their isolated existence, poetry began to transform from its classical style
11 It seems that the Hawar school was named after a magazine, Hawar, that was published during this
period.