Magin_Edward-thesis

16
(Blau 1996:22-3). Goran, 12 whose real name was Abdullah Sulayman (1904-1962), was
the first poet from the Sorani-speaking area to break with tradition, writing with stress
rhythms which were closer to oral folk styles (Blau 1996:22-3). According to Shakely
(2002), Goran “brought about a revolution in Kurdish poetry” and is called “the father of
Kurdish modernism.” Up until this time, Kurdish poetry had been shaped by centuries of
poetry of other cultures, particularly Arabic. Goran based his poetry on Kurdish identity
and themes. He used old Kurdish folksong patterns for meter and form instead of, for
example, using Arabic meter. He also purposefully used Central Kurdish in lieu of Arabic
or other languages. Goran, like many 20 th century Kurdish poets, went through various
periods in his own work, beginning with a classical period. In his latter years, he wrote in
free verse 13 (Shakely 2002).
During this time other poets in the Sorani-speaking area began publishing free
verse and prose poetry, 14 addressing social and political concerns (Blau 1996:23). Some
of the popular poets from this period are: Salem (1892-1959), the penname of Sheikh
Salem Ahmad Azabanî, Delzar (b. 1920) the penname of Ahmad Mostafa Hama Aga,
Bekas (1905-1948) the penname of Fakî ‘Abd-Allah, and his son Şêrko Bêkas (b. 1940),
Kamran Mokrî (1929-1989), and Kakay Fallah (b. 1928) (Kreyenbroek 2005).
12 The poet Goran should not be confused with the Goran school of poetry. The source of Goran’s penname
is unknown. Perhaps his heritage was Goranî (or Hawrami), as he was born in Halebja, which was largely
Hawrami at the time. His poetry, however, is written in Soranî, the central Kurdish language. No resource
states whether or not he knew the Hawrami language.
13 Shakely does not define his meaning of “free verse.” Turco (2000), taking issue with the term free verse,
prefers to use the term prose poetry to define poetry that does not adhere to syllabic count and meter.
Since the term “verse” is defined as “metered language,” the term free verse is an oxymoron, as “free”
implies “unmetered.” Turco (2000) also writes, “Amy Lowell (1874-1925) called prose poetry that utilized
many poetry sonic devices polyphonic prose rather than free verse.
14 Blau used the terms free verse and prose to describe the new poetry of this period. However, we are not
told how they differ. As mentioned in the previous footnote, the terms are often considered synonymous.
Not knowing how the various people who are cited in this paper would define the term “free verse,” the
terms prose and free verse are to be considered synonymous throughout the paper.