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Selected publications

Books

 

1. Rediscovering Kurdistan's Cultures and Identities: The Call of The Cricket, (ed.) Palgrave Macmillan 2018 offers insight into little-known aspects of the social and cultural activity and changes taking place in different parts of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran), linking different theoretical approaches within a postcolonial perspective. The first chapter presents the book’s approach to postcolonial theory and gives a brief introduction to the historical context of Kurdistan. The second, third and fourth chapters focus on the Kurdish context, examining ethical changes as revealed in Kurdish literary and cinema narratives, the socio-political role of the Kurdish cultural institutions and the practices of countering othering of Kurdish migrants living in Istanbul. The fifth chapter offers an analysis of the nineteenth-century missionary translations of the Bible into the Kurdish language. The sixth chapter examines the formation of Chaldo-Assyrian identity in the context of relations with the Kurds after the overthrow of the Ba’ath regime in 2003. The last chapter investigates the question of the Yezidis’ identity, based on Yezidi oral works and statements about their self-identification.

 

 

2. Między ciemnością i światłem. O kurdyjskiej tożsamości i literaturze (Between Darkness and Light. About Kurdish Identity and Literature), published by Księgarnia Akademicka Publishing Hause, Kraków 2011.

The book is an attempt to present the dynamic process of the development of Kurdish identity in the 20th century, focusing on the culture of this nation and especially on it's literary achievements. The first chapter of the thesis, entitled The Nation and National Identity Issues, reviews various definitions of the concepts of nation and national identity. The thesis is based on the cultural definitions of national identity by Anthony Smith and Antonina Kłoskowska. The second chapter, The Kurdish Cultural Universe, based on the analysis of a selection of texts, presents a historical outline of the Kurdish oral and classical tradition with a prior introduction of such notions as the Kurds, Kurdistan, Kurdish language and religion. It lays a great stress on the role of selected works such as fantasstic fairy tales, DimDim or the most important one - the Mem u Zin of Ehmede Khani. His epos is many times referred to in works of contemporary writers. The third chapter, On the Threshold of the Present, introduces contemporary issues focusing on more recent historical, political and social reality of Kurdistan starting from the end of the 19th century (with special attention paid to the territory which since 1923 has been a part of the Republic of Turkey). The second part of it, entitled From Poetry to Prose, presents the main issues and figures of the Kurdish (Kurmanji and Sorani) literary life of the 20th century, at the same time providing a wider context for the issues addressed in the last, main chapter. The fourth chapter, The Return – Literary Spaces of the Kurdish Identity, analyses the works of selected writers coming from the Turkish part of Kurdistan who write in Kurdish or in Turkish, like Yaşar Kemal, Mehmed Uzun, Seyit Alp, Ruşen Arslan and Hesenê Metê. It emphasizes the role of writer's will and his ideas in creating the so called "space of Kurdish literary identity". The space is considered not only to be conected with language of the prose but also with it's references to the Kurdish cultural universe and the writer's will expressed in his works to identify with the specified territory. It gives the possibility to distinguish between Yaşar Kemal's literary space of Anatolia and Seyit Alp's literary space of Kurdistan, both created in Turkish language. The chapter lays the great stress on the process of continuation of some motifes and values that are present in Kurdish literary heritage (honour, God-Love idea). They are adapted, deliberately rejected or reinterpreted by modern writers. The final Conclusions, summarises the Kurdish literary issues that have been previously discussed, laying great emphasis on the continuity of the Kurdish literary tradition. This is the first book in Poland devoted to the Kurdish literature and language and deals in depth with the socio-political reality of the Kurds in Turkey.

 

 

 

3. Opowieści dengbeżów. Baśnie i bajki kurdyjskie, Wydawnictwo Namas, Poznań 2014 (Kurdish Fairy Tales from Calils' familly collection), translated into Polish by Joanna Bocheńska, illustrations: Paulina Krajewska, Namas Publishing Hause 2014. The book was translated in the scope of Małopolska Regional Agency Knowledge and Practice project (2011) and published by Namas Publishing Hause with the support of Jagiellonian University (Faculty of Philology). It is the the first direct translation from Kurdish (Kurmanji dialect) into Polish which has been published as a book. The fairy tales consist of preface, footnotes and notes on Kurdish storytellers as well as of illustrations. This way they are adressed both for reserchers and young readers. The book was nominated to the Book of the 2014 Year by IBBY in the category of best illustrations.

 

 

Articles and book chapters:


  • Between Honour and Dignity. Kurdish literary and cinema narratives and their attempt to rethink identity and resistance, in: Rediscovering Kurdistan's Cultures and Identities: The Call of The Cricket, (red.) J. Bocheńska, Palgrave Macmillan 2018
  • Fahmkirina Guherînên Exlaqî di Çanda Kurdî de. Xwendina Kitêba Kwame Anthony Appiahî bi navê The Honor Code. How Moral Revolutions Happen. Derwaze. Kurdish Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (1), po kurdyjsku, ss. 54-71
  • In search of moral imagination that tells us “who the Kurds are”. Toward a new theoretical approach to Kurdish literature, Kurdish Studies 4(1), 2016, 78-93
  • Mehmet Dicle and His Iridescent Images from Asûs, Frittilaria Kurdica. Bulletin of Kurdish Studies 15, 4-21
  • Ehmede Khani’s Hymn to Forgiveness. Salvation of Satan in the Kurdish Classical Poem Mem and Zin, Frittilaria Kurdica. Bulletin of Kurdishstudies, 13-14, 2016, 35-68
  • with Karolem Kaczorowskim, Idee, ideologie, działanie. Prezentacja wywiadów z przedstawicielami kurdyjskich lewicowych i muzułmańskich instytucji kulturalnych w Kurdystanie północnym (Turcja) i Stambule, Frittilaria Kurdica. Bulletin of Kurdish Studies, 11-12, 2015, 35-119
  • with Renata Kurpiewska-Korbut, Ciągłość i zmiana. Prezentacja kurdyjskich instytucji kulturalnych w Regionie Kurdystanu w Iraku na bazie materiału zebranego podczas badań terenowych przeprowadzonych w kwietniu i maju 2014 (Continuity and Change. Kurdish Cultural Institutions in The Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Field Research Results), in: Frittilaria Kurdica. Bulletin of Kurdish Studies, no. 5, Kraków 06.2014, ss. 22-86
  • Bila Nivîskar û wêjenas neyên kuştin (in Kurdish), in: Wêje û Rexne, nr. 2, Diyarbakir (Turkey) 05.2014, pp. 121-132
  • Following The Snake. Yezidi Inspirations in Contemporary Kurdish Literature, in: Frittilaria Kurdica. Bulletin of Kurdish Studies, no. 3,4, Kraków 03.2014, pp. 122-152
  • The Hidden Truth of a Colonial God. Some Reflections on Edward Said's Orientalism and Hesenê Metê's Sinful Words, in: Frittilaria Kurdica. Bulletin of Kurdish Studies, no. 1, 09.2013 Kraków, pp. 13-21, translation into Kurmanji Kurdish: Rastiya Veşartî ya Xwedayeke Kolonyal, Li ser Orientalîzma Edward Said û Gotinên gunehkara Hesenê Metê Hin Raman, in: Zarema, no 1, Diyarbakir 05.2014, Diyarbakir, tłumaczenie Umran Aran, pp. 77-84
  • Kurdish Contemporary Literature in Search of Ordo Amoris. Some Reflections on the Kurdish Literary Tradition and Ethics, in: Nûbihar Akademî, no. 1, Istanbul 01.2014, pp. 35-54
  • What is The Source of Good and Beauty? Ethic and Aesthetic Aspects of Kurdish Fairy Tales from Jalils’ Family Collection, Folia Orientalia no. 50, Kraków 2013, pp. 215-242, translation into Sorani Kurdish: Serçawî çak û cwanî çiye?, in: Jiwar 17-18, Teheran 2014, translated by Arf Selimi pp. 73-113
  • Кино веры, надежды и любви. Реализм и метафизика в фильмах Бахмана Кубади (The Cinema of Faith, Hope and Love. Realism and Metaphisics in Bahman Ghobadi’s films), Lazarevskiye Chteniya, nr. 2, Moscow 2013,
  • Kurdyjska kultura w poszukiwaniu piękna i tożsamości, (Kurdish culture in search of beauty and identity), Przegląd Narodowościowy no. 1, Zielonogórski University, Pracownia Badań nad Mniejszościami Narodowymi i Etnicznymi przy Instytucie Politologii, Zielona Góra 2012, pp.127-145
  • Turkish EU Accession Process from the Kurdish Perspective, in A.Szymański (ed.), Turkey and Europe - Challenges and Chances, The Polish Institute of International Affairs, Warsaw 2012, pp. 23-48
  • Co-authorship with Russian scholars Nona Shakhnazaryan and Igor Lanchenko Kурдская Мекка? Гора Арарат в восприятии курдов. О символах идентичности (Kurdish Mecca? Kurdish Perceptions of Mt. Ararat. Symbols of Identity), Nauchny Zhurnal “Diasporas”, 2010, no. 1, Moscow, pp. 152-198
  • Continuity and change. Kurdish contemporary literature and its quests for identity, International Conference: Change and Stability. State Religion and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa, UNUM, Cracow 2010, pp.13-18
  • Między nadzieją jedności, a doświadczaniem różnorodności. Ewolucja kurdyjskiej tożsamości narodowej w XX wieku, (Between hope for unity and experiencing diversity. The evolution of Kurdish national identity in 20th century), in B. Grott (ed.): Różne oblicza nacjonalizmów, Polityka-Religia-Etos, NOMOS, Kraków, 2010, pp. 461-487
  • O książce Hranta Dinka: Dwa bliskie narody – dwaj dalecy sąsiedzi (Iki yakin halk iki uzak komşu, Ulusararasi Hrant Dink Vakfi Yayinlari 2008) (About the book of Hrant Dink Iki yakin halk iki uzak komşu) in: Biuletyn Ormiańskiego Towarzystwa Kulturalnego 58/59, Kraków 2009, pp. 62-69.
  • Historia należy nie tylko do zwycięzców. Wskrzeszanie przeszłości w twórczości kurdyjskiego pisarza Mehmeda Uzuna (History belongs not only to winners. The past raised from dead. Selected works of Kurdish writer Mehmed Uzun), International Conference on Kurdish Studies, Kraków 2004, pp. 115-131

 

She is the research fellow of Kazimierz Pułaski Foundation (www.pulaski.pl) and the expert of The President Aleksander Kwaśniewski Amicus Europae Foundation (www.fae.pl), several articles:

 

  1. Sytuacja tureckich Kurdów, a starania Turcji o członkostwo w Unii Europejskiej, (The Turkish Kurds and Turkish UE membership efforts) Biuletyn Opinie Fundacji Amicus Europae, nr. 12/2008
  2. Pomost między Wschodem a Zachodem. Turecka wizja polityki zagranicznej, (Bridge between East and West. Turkish vision of foreign policy), Biuletyn Opinie Fundacji Amicus Europae nr 11/2009
  3. Tureckie zmagania akcesyjne kontra europejskie partie i frakcje polityczne, Turkey’s accession struggles versus the European parties and political factions, in Polish and in English, nr. 17/09 z dnia 21.10.2009, Komentarz Międzynarodowy Pułaskiego, Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego
  4. Zmiany w polityce Turcji (Changes in Turkish foreign policy), Policy Papres nr 36/2009, Fundacji Amicus Europae,
  5. Kurdystan iracki – cierpliwe poszukiwanie wolności/Iraqi Kurdistan – a patient search for freedom, in Polish and English, Komentarz Międzynarodowy PułaskiegoCasimir Pulaski Foundation, nr 12/2011
  6. Turcja wobec kryzysu syryjskiego, (Turkey and Syria crisis) Biuletyn Opinie Fundacji Amicus Europae, nr. 19/2011
  7. Iracko-kurdyjski konflikt o Kirkuk (Iraqi-Kurdish conflict on Kirkuk), Biuletyn Opinie no. 24, Warszawa 2012