The fight for Kurdish language survival

Photo by Sedat Suna/EPA (published in The Guardian)

This blog is part of Respond’s Kurdish storytelling project. Visit the main project page here.

by Raman Salah

“I can protect my language from being forgotten by reading and writing, communicating with friends and family in my mother tongue.”

- Tavge*, a teacher, translator, and Kurmanji speaker from Rojava

Kurdish people in their daily lives and in their relationship with their stories, communities, and dialect are at the forefront of the fight for language justice across Kurdistan. 

Their efforts, from the individual to the international level, include learning one’s mother dialect and using it intergenerationally; Kurdish storytelling; and cultural exchange through translating Kurdish literature into other languages.

Rojda Arslan, a Zazakî speaker living abroad, is an attorney specializing in public international law and European human rights law. Rojda found the preservation of her language is a matter of speaking and recording history in the language:  

“Personally, in my case, it’s definitely about speaking it. That is the first preservation of my cultural identity. I always practice my language and speak it with my family. What I noticed is that they prefer speaking the dominant language, for example, my uncle’s family prefer talking in German since they live in Germany. Most of the time we try to mix or at least make jokes in our mother language… Taking into account preservation is that we must try to write things, this way we continue recording history in the language.” 

Rojda, emphasized the importance of collecting stories: 

“I do collect fairytales from my grandparents and my parents. These fairytales carry a lot of cultural heritage.” 

Rojda is not alone. Other Kurdish language activists have recently begun collecting folklore, saving ancestral stories and songs from oblivion, in an attempt to revitalize endangered dialects and support indigenous knowledge production. For this work, they often risk harassment and arrest.

This is necessarily intergenerational work, Rojda explained, as “there is lots of awareness among the elder generation and unfortunately, the younger generation are not aware of the works our elderly groups are doing.” 

For Hêvî*, an activist, translator, and Kurmanji speaker from Bakur, reading Kurdish literature and trying his hand at writing it himself rekindled his love for and expertise in his dialect:

“When I went to high school, I realized how important it is for us to learn our language’s alphabet, grammar, and more vocabulary. Moreover, I realized it is not sufficient to just know your language’s alphabet or grammar, the most important thing is that we must read more in Kurdish and write more. I started to read more in Kurdish and about Kurdish. I found a few grammar books by respected authors outside Turkey. I started to write! I started to write short poems and stories. These reading and writing experiences made me learn more about my culture, language, and history.”

From there, after graduating university, Hêvî helped build a support group for Kurdish students in university “to help new Kurdish students who had just left their hometown or villages to come to the city.”   

“We are still assisting those Kurdish students to be proud of speaking out for themselves and challenge the difficulties they face. We help them to learn Kurdish better so that they may be able to write, translate and influence their siblings, friends, and family to preserve our language.”

Additionally, he argued making Kurdish-language cultural and knowledge production accessible to the broader world is also key to its survival:

“I didn’t stop at that point, I started to translate, I found that translation is a main key to protecting my language. This way we can have the world's literature in my language and the other way round having my literature in other languages.”

Others agreed that translation and cultural sharing is one mode for Kurdish-language preservation:

“I try to write in my language as much as I can to share awareness with other people about my language and the rich tapestry that it holds. I think other people should write more in Kurdish, do translations.” – Berivan*, a journalist and political activist from Bashur

“Awareness is really important. The world has to be aware of these dying languages. Translation is a good way to avoid this language violence. Having diversity is the most beautiful thing. Translation of books, literature helps this issue around the world, not only just Kurdish.” – Dilan*, a language justice advocate and Sorani speaker from Bashur now living abroad (emphasis added)

Much of this fight for language preservation and justice often puts people at risk for social or legal repercussions.

At the bare minimum, many interviewees agreed, states must be compelled to fulfill their duties under international law and protect the rights of linguistic minorities to speak, be educated in, and not be punished for their use of their mother languages.

“The governments of Syria, Turkey and Iran should promote bilingual education and provide resources for the preservation of the Kurdish language. Advocate for laws and policies that protect linguistic rights and prohibit discrimination and violence based on language. Awareness on the importance of linguistic diversity and the negative consequences of language violence should be raised among people of the mentioned countries.” – Tavge, a teacher, translator, and Kurmanji speaker from Rojava (emphasis added)

This is also where global solidarity is important, most interviewees agreed. The world must be on alert to preserve and protect Kurdish dialects, particularly those which are already endangered, and support Kurdish people who are leading these efforts.

“Unfortunately, we cannot expect much assistance from the world, although I fervently hope to be proven wrong. However, global awareness and solidarity would undoubtedly ease our path to preserving our language, particularly if they support the Kurdish diaspora. Ultimately, it is the collective responsibility and duty of us all to safeguard and cherish our identity and language. Without striving for an independent Kurdistan, we cannot even protect ourselves, let alone preserve our language in a stateless homeland. It is within a free Kurdish nation that we can truly exercise our linguistic rights.” – Dewran Mahmud, Sorani, Kurmanji, and Kelhorî speaker living in Bashur

*Several names have been changed to protect the privacy and safety of our project participants and their loved ones. Because of the fact that several Kurdish names have been outlawed across Kurdistan by occupying regimes, we note here that we have chosen to use names that are banned.