This study is based on a corpus of eighteen oral versions of of the Kurdish romance Mem û Zîn, a tragic love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet which is very widespread in Northern Kurdistan. All eighteen versions, which constitute the appendix, have been translated into English, complete with notes explaining cultural concepts and linguistic niceties.
The eighteen versions of Mem û Zîn are subjected to a series of comparative folklonstic analyses. Chapter One consists of an introduction to the Kurds, their language and folklore, together with a brief summary of the story of M&Z. This is followed by a cntical bibliographic survey of the literature that has been published about the oral versions of M&Z and Ehmedê Xanî's literary poem by the same name, including also references for the general study of Kurdish folklore. The analysis of M&Z begins with the second section of Chapter One, in which the proverbial nature of the romance, as seen in certain expressions that are denved from it, is investigated.
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Table of Contents
Volume 1 Analysis Abstract / iii Dedication / v Table of Contents / vi List of Figures / viii Preface and Acknowledgements / ix Abbreviations of the Versions / xv Standard Kurdish Alphabet Chart / xvii
Chapter 1. Introduction Mem û Zîn : Introduction and Bibliographic Survey / I Proverbial Aspects of Mem û Zîn / 39
Chapter 2. Literary vs. Oral The Relationship Between Ehmedê Xanî's literary Poem and the Oral Versions / 52
Chapter 3. Genre The Question of Genre / 64
Chapter 4. Context Performance Aspect: Argumentum ex Silentio / 103
Chapter 5. Tekture Kurdish Folk Poetics / 132 Oral-Formulaic Theory / 145
Chapter 6. Text Doves, jinn, or Angels? Motifs Exhibiting Variation / 222 Mem û Zîn Motif Chart: Dramatis Personae / 279 Motifs Exhibiting Variation: Dramatis Personae / 280 Mem û Zîn Motif Chart: Scenes and Motifs / 288 Motifs Exhibiting Variation: Scenes and Motifs / 291 Notes on the Different Versions of M&Z Used in the Study / 323 Analysis: Is Mem a Hero? / 354
Chapter 7. Conclusion Geography and Oicotypes: Mapping the Versions of M&Z / 394 In Conclusion: the Future of the Tradition / 404
Mem û Zîn : Table of Contents
Volume II. Appendix Texts
1. Illustrations / 1
Translations 2. PN (1869) Eugen Prym and Albert Socin, from 'Dschâno' / 9 3. PS (1870) Eugen Prym and Albert Socin, (from unknown râwî in Zakhol / 19 4. HM (1896) Hugo Makas from Mohammed Emîn bin Shemdîn el-Menaîlkanî / 44 5. LC-1 (1901) Albert von Le Coq from Ja'far Oğlu Seidi Bīyā / 53 6. OM (1903) Oskar Man. from Rafimanî Bekir / 86 7. SHa-1 (1904) S Haykuni, from Oskan Ghanian / 176 8. SHa-2 (1904) 5 Haykuni, from Onbashi Mehon / 185 9. GNa (1904) G Nzhdehian, (from unknown informant in Eleşkirt / Alashkerd) / 199 10. FK-2 (1926) E Evdal, from Fekoê Mraz / 216 11. FK-1 (-1936) E E'vdal. from Xudoê Qaşo / 233 12. EP-2 (c. 1938) 0 L Vil'chevskiī, (infomantinknown) / 283 13. EP-1 (1955) Hajie Jndi, from Etarê şêro / 300 14. ZK-3 (1959) Ordikhan & Dzhalīî Dzhalilov?, from Hovhannîsyan Kerrapêt / 350 15. HR-1 (1960) Beam B Akdemir (for Hellmut Ritter), from Yûsuf Make Asmar / 391 16. HR-2 (1961) Hellmut Ritter, from Siêman Hanna Maskobi / 416 17. ZK-1 (1963) Ordikhan & Dzhalil Dzhalilov?, from Egîtê Têcir / 428 18. ZK-2 (1970) Ordikhan & Dzhalil Dzhalilov?, from Ohanyan Isrêl / 460
Text and translation 19. MC-1 (C. 1988) (tape acquired by Michael L Chyetl, (name withheld' / 506
List of Figures, Maps, and Illustrations
Mem û Zîn Motif Chart: Dramatis Personae / 279 Mem û Zîn Motif Chart: Scenes and Motifs / 288 Figure 6a: Displaced Elements / 351 Figure 7a: The Geography of M&Z / 393 Memê Alan / 1 Zîna Zêdan / 2 Bozê Revan (Colt of the Sea) / 3 Mem on the road to Jezira Bohtan / 4 Bekoyê Awan / 5 Mîr Ézîn (Mîr Sevdîn) / 6 Qeretajdîn / 7 Çeko / 8
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present work consists of two parts: a corpus of eighteen versions of the important Kurdish folk romance Mem û Zîn (M&Z), and a comparative folkloristic analysis of these versions. Each of the versions in the corpus has been translated into English, together with comparative and explanatory notes. The first seventeen versions have already been published, although only one English translation existed before the present work; the eighteenth (MC-1) makes it first appearance here, with a transcription of the Kurdish text and my translation.
In analyzing M&Z, I have applied the latest methods in international folklore research to Kurdish materials, perhaps for the first time. I have adopted Alan Dundes' tripartite schema of genre definition, by considering texture, text, and context of the versions in the corpus. Moreover, I have attempted to show how Ilhan Başgöz' structural analysis of Turkish folk romances (halk hikayeleri) can, with but a few emendations, be applied to Kurdish folk romances as well: it is not surprising that the Turks and Kurds, two completely distinct ethnic groups which have lived side by side for centuries, should share a genre of folk narrative.
In Chapter One, I present an introduction to the Kurds, their language and folklore, together with a brief summary of the story of M&Z. This is followed by a critical bibliographic survey of the literature that has been published about the oral versions of M&Z and Ehmedê Xanî's literary poem by the same name, including also references for the general study of Kurdish folklore. My analysis of M&Z begins with the second section of Chapter One, in which I investigate the proverbial nature of the romance as seen in certain expressions that are derived from it.
Chapter Two is a consideration of the relationship between Ehmedê Xanî's literary poem, revered by the Kurds as their national epic, and the oral versions of M&Z. In Chapter Three, M&Z is assigned to a specific genre of folk narrative. Chapter Four is an endeavor to restore the performance aspect of the tellings of M&Z, based on a new look at the scanty evidence at our disposal. The poetic nature and linguistic texture of the oral versions will be explored in Chapter Five, where the Oral-Formulaic Theory is applied to M&Z. A detailed comparative study of the versions will be undertaken in Chapter Six, looking both horizontally, i.e., across the versions, and vertically, discussing variation within each motif. The final chapter of the study includes an attempt to establish oicotypes by linking the variation in the versions of the story to their geographical distribution: this section includes a map of Kurdistan on which the versions have been plotted, as well as other important sites, such as Bayazid, the site of Ehmedê Xanî's tomb, and the city of Jezira Bohtan, where the main part of the story of M&L takes place. The study concludes with a few words about the future of the tradition.
Throughout the seven chapters, rather than throwing folkloristic terminology at the reader, I have endeavored to explain my terms, giving examples that should drive home the point. I have tried to anticipate my audience in my comments.
It is not unusual for upsurges of nationalist sentiment to be accompanied by a keen interest in the nation's folklore. After all, the field of folklore has its roots in the rise of nationalism in Europe during the Nineteenth Century. The present study is intended to serve as a model for what needs to be taken into consideration while collecting and recording folkloric material, should the Kurdish people or other kurdologists ever decide to undertake such an endeavor. In all too many cases, such collecting has been done by untrained people with purely political aims, with the achievement of such aims being perceived as more important than the learning of sound practices of linguistic and - folkloristic collection. Only in retrospect are such mistakes regretted.
In the present volume, the methodology for carrying out such a folkloristic endeavor has been laid out. Furthermore, copious examples have been given of less than satisfactory collecting techniques and their implications. The main difference between sound and unsound practices is that the former have the potential to accurately reflect the people's oral tradition from several different angles, including texture (i.e., language and style), text (i.e., the folklore item itself), and most particularly context (i.e., the social situation in which the item was used). Such unsound practices as neglecting to record context, changing the informant's language, or combining several versions into a composite text, run the nsk of distorting reality, by failing to correctly represent the tradition that is supposedly the source of so much pride.
By myself, I am powerless to implement the methods outlined here. If others who are interested in Kurdish folklore will pick up where I have left off, rather than reinventing the wheel, I believe that this will enhance both the study of Kurdish culture and folklore on the one hand and comparative international scholarship on the other.
It is my pleasure to express my gratitude to the people whose help has made this project possible. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, Professors Martin Schwartz, Alan Dundes, and William Brinner, for their encouragement, guidance, and support. My heart goes out to Shayee Khanaka for making the whole thing possible: she and I started to read versions of M&Z together, and many of her comments have given me considerable food for thought. In addition, she helped me get started in translating the Sorani Kurdish version included in the study (OM). My friends John Rundin and Peter Dorcey were of great help in acclimating me to the world of computers. My dear friend and roommate Geoffrey Graham deserves honorable mention for designing the fonts used in the dissertation, and for his excellent job in creating the map appearing in Chapter Seven. Without the invaluable help which he and our friend Rene' Radusky offered, printing out the final draft would have been impossible.
My Armenian friend Anne Avakian is to be commended for her assistance in finding Armenian materials dealing with M&Z and other items of Kurdish folklore: my analyses of three versions (SHa-1; SHa-2; GNa) are based on the English summaries which she provided. I would like to thank my friend and library colleague Rick Velez for constantly keeping me abreast of Soviet publications dealing with the Kurds, and especially for unearthing the volume in which two versions of M&Z (EP-1; EP-2) appear.
I would also like to thank my friend and colleague Robert Hoberman for helping me try to locate Kurdish informants who could recite M&Z in Israel during the summer of 1990. Although we were unsuccessful in finding anyone during the three brief weeks of my stay, he has found what may be another Neo Aramaic version among the unpublished material collected by Hans Jakob Polotsky.
There are several foreign scholars whose aid was enlisted. Professor D.N. MacKenzie provided me with three versions which would otherwise have remained beyond my reach (FK-1; FK-2; FK-3). I have shown my gratitude to him by including a reprint of FK-2 together with my English translation in Ella Iranica, the Festschrift commemorating his 65th birthday which was presented to him in April (1991). I would also like to thank Professor Martin Schwartz once again, for his help in enabling my contribution to be included in that volume.
My special thanks to the Israeli folklorist Heda Jason, for her helpful suggestions, for having sent me a Yemenite tale which resembles the climax of the story of M&Z, and for introducing me to Jacqueline Alon. Mrs. Alon also deserves special mention, for having provided me with a copy of the version of M&Z which she collected in Jerusalem from an elderly Kurdish Jew, Moshe Daniel. Not only did she tape his recitation of the story, she also interviewed his sister at length about it, thereby furnishing the first running commentary on a version of M&Z.
I would like to mention the Kurdish scholars M. Emin Bozarslan and Ferhad Shakely for their kind help in providing me with copies of materials not readily available in North America. They sent me copies of Alan Ward's English translation of EP-1, and of Shakely's fine study of Ehmedê Xani's literary poem Mem û Zîn.
My friend and colleague Amir Hassanpour-Aghdam was kind enough to let me see the chapter of his dissertation dealing with the Kurdish poet Ehmedê Xanî, and to send me a copy of the article he wrote for the Encyclopaedia Iranica about the Kurdish narrative form beyt (bayt). I am both grateful for his encouragement and proud that we are colleagues.
It is also my pleasure to thank my Kurdish friends in Southern California for allowing me to interview them about M&Z, and for introducing me around the Kurdish community. I will not mention them by name, so as to protect their anonymity.
This is the appropriate place to express my gratitude to Margaret Kahn for all her help and encouragement over the years. In many ways I see myself as following in her footsteps, and she has been a fine mentor.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, my parents and sister, for their love and support throughout the stressful periods of my life as a graduate student, and before.
Abstract
This study is based on a corpus of eighteen oral versions of of the Kurdish romance Mem û Zîn, a tragic love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet which is very widespread in Northern Kurdistan. All eighteen versions, which constitute the appendix, have been translated into English, complete with notes explaining cultural concepts and linguistic niceties.
The eighteen versions of Mem û Zîn are subjected to a series of comparative folklonstic analyses. Chapter One consists of an introduction to the Kurds, their language and folklore, together with a brief summary of the story of M&Z. This is followed by a cntical bibliographic survey of the literature that has been published about the oral versions of M&Z and Ehmedê Xanî's literary poem by the same name, including also references for the general study of Kurdish folklore. The analysis of M&Z begins with the second section of Chapter One, in which the proverbial nature of the romance, as seen in certain expressions that are denved from it, is investigated.
Chapter Two is a consideration of the relationship between Ehmedê Xanî's literary poem, revered by the Kurds as their national epic, and the oral versions of M&Z. In Chapter Three, Mem û Zîn is assigned to a specific genre of folk narrative, the romance. Chapter Four is an endeavor to restore the performance aspect of the tellings of M&Z, based on a new look at the scanty evidence at our disposal. The poetic nature and linguistic texture of the oral versions are explored in Chapter Five: Kurdish folk poetics are discussed, followed by the application of the Oral-Formulaic Theory to Mem n Zîn. A detailed comparative study of the versions is undertaken in Chapter Six, looking both horizontally, i.e., across the versions, and vertically, discussing variation within each motif. The final chapter of the study includes an attempt to establish oicotypes by linking the variation in the versions of the story to their geographical distribution: this section includes a map of Kurdistan on which the versions have been plotted, as well as other important sites, such as Bayazid, the site of Ehmedê Xanî's tomb, and the city of Jezira Bohtan, where the main part of the story of M&2 takes place. The study concludes with a few words about the future of the tradition.
The accompanying bibliography includes sources for the study of Kurdish language and folk literature, as well as publications dealing with folkloristic theory both in general and as applied to Middle Eastern peoples in particular.
Michael L. Chyet
“And a thornbush sprang up between them”: Studies on “Mem û Zîn”, a Kurdish romance
U.M.I
U.M.I Dissertation information service “And a thornbush sprang up between them”: Studies on “Mem û Zîn”, a Kurdish romance Michael Lewisohn Chyet
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"And a thornbush sprang up between them": Studies on "Mem û Zîn", a Kurdish romance. (Volumes I and II) Chyet, Michael Lewisohn, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1991
