Re-evaluation of the Yārsān Texts and its Impact on Kurdish Literature
Abstract
In this essay, I examine the Yārsān literature and investigate its significance as it pertains to Kurdish literature. The Yarsan, an ethno-religious group who live in the southern reaches of the Kurdish region are believed to be in possession of a collection of the oldest Gurani oral and written literary tradition. While there has been ample research and documentation of Gurani literature’s role and importance in the development of the Yarsan religion, its essential function in the preservation and transmission of cultural, historical, and literal data of the Kurdish people has remained largely unexplored by scholars. Furthermore, the Yarsan community’s efforts to safeguard their texts have often motivated Kurdish studies scholars to singularly categorize this repertoire as purely religious manuscripts. This essay will explore Yarsan literature in three distinct periods: the literature that is believed to have existed before the cycle of Sultan Sahak Barzanji, the influential leader of the Yarsan; the literature that existed during his cycle; and the literature that has prevailed after that time. By analyzing these texts, I aim to show that Yarsan literature has had a significant impact on Yarsan and Kurdish literary history and warrants more in-depth studies from varied perspectives, other than an exclusively religious lens.
Abstract
In this essay, I examine the Yārsān literature and investigate its significance as it pertains to Kurdish literature. The Yarsan, an ethno-religious group who live in the southern reaches of the Kurdish region are believed to be in possession of a collection of the oldest Gurani oral and written literary tradition. While there has been ample research and documentation of Gurani literature’s role and importance in the development of the Yarsan religion, its essential function in the preservation and transmission of cultural, historical, and literal data of the Kurdish people has remained largely unexplored by scholars. Furthermore, the Yarsan community’s efforts to safeguard their texts have often motivated Kurdish studies scholars to singularly categorize this repertoire as purely religious manuscripts. This essay will explore Yarsan literature in three distinct periods: the literature that is believed to have existed before the cycle of Sultan Sahak Barzanji, the influential leader of the Yarsan; the literature that existed during his cycle; and the literature that has prevailed after that time. By analyzing these texts, I aim to show that Yarsan literature has had a significant impact on Yarsan and Kurdish literary history and warrants more in-depth studies from varied perspectives, other than an exclusively religious lens.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Introduction 1
- Shared Ownership and Kurdish Folklore 5
- Resist Diyarbakır, Resist: Exploring Kurdish Literary Intelligentsia in Diyarbakır 19
- Tales of Woe, Ruthless Foes, and Patriotic Heroes: A Historical-Literary Study of Kurdish (Dis)unity in the Early Modern Era 39
- Sherko Bekas and the Emergence of Postnational Kurdish Literature 97
- Re-evaluation of the Yārsān Texts and its Impact on Kurdish Literature 129
- Kurdish Music as Literature: Some Historical Considerations 147
- Kurdish Women’s Feminist Poetry: Developing a Voice in Southern Kurdistan and the Diaspora 171
- Kurdish Women in Fiction and a History of Violence, Displacement, and Migration 193
- General Index 215
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Introduction 1
- Shared Ownership and Kurdish Folklore 5
- Resist Diyarbakır, Resist: Exploring Kurdish Literary Intelligentsia in Diyarbakır 19
- Tales of Woe, Ruthless Foes, and Patriotic Heroes: A Historical-Literary Study of Kurdish (Dis)unity in the Early Modern Era 39
- Sherko Bekas and the Emergence of Postnational Kurdish Literature 97
- Re-evaluation of the Yārsān Texts and its Impact on Kurdish Literature 129
- Kurdish Music as Literature: Some Historical Considerations 147
- Kurdish Women’s Feminist Poetry: Developing a Voice in Southern Kurdistan and the Diaspora 171
- Kurdish Women in Fiction and a History of Violence, Displacement, and Migration 193
- General Index 215
