Writing the Self Away from Home: Identity and Memory in Kurdish Diasporic Literature: A Literary Analysis of Dancing Amid Fire, Rising AboveRuins (Essmat Sophie)- Written by Carla Hemkendreis

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University of Potsdam- Department of English and American Studies

Chair of English Literature- Dr. Kübra Özermiş- Dr. des. Priyam Goswami Choudhury

Winter Semester 2025/26

Abstract

This thesis will examine the use of memory and identity building in the novel DancingAmid Fire, Rising above Ruins by Essmat Sophie, published in 2023, against thebackground of the Kurdish diaspora in Europe. The paper aims to show how the novelfunctions as a connector between Kurds in the diaspora and those in the homeland byforegrounding the multiplicity of Kurdish perspectives and experiences and challengingmonolithic understandings of Kurdish identity. In order to do so, the dialogical nature ofidentity building and cultural memory is examined, and common narratives of collectiveidentity building through nationalistic tendencies are challenged. Through close readingand analysis, the paper explores how Sophie portrays themes like community, memory,persecution and resistance as well as the intersectional marginalization of Kurdishwomen. The results show that Sophie does not rely on nationalist sentiment to build herdiverse cast of characters and refutes one-dimensional representation, intersectingindividual narratives with broader political realities, illustrating how diasporic literaturecan preserve cultural continuity while embracing diversity and change.

Keywords: Identity, Cultural Memory, Kurdish Literature, Diasporic Literature, DancingAmid Fire, Rising Above Ruins

1. Introduction

Who am I? At some point in their life, every person comes to the point where they thinkabout their identity. The time and manner of these deliberations may vary greatly, forsome people this process may even be an unconscious one. But the gist remains, everyonethinks about it. I know from personal experience, from my Kurdish family, that, for manyKurdish people, pain, suffering and loss, be it through persecution or migration, are oftenat the forefront of their memory, laced with tradition and cultural practices. But thatresistance and the fight for freedom are equally prominent. Cultural memory becomesresistance when cultural practices are penalized, and memory becomes a weapon. Theslogan “berxwedan jîyan e” (“perseverance is life”, my trans.) expresses this sentimentperfectly. Resistance and perseverance keep Kurds alive and are part of the history, partof the culture, but also something forced by the actions of the oppressors, not somethingdone by choice but out of necessity. I argue that in Dancing Amid Fire, Rising AboveRuins (2023), Essmat Sophie bridges the gap between Kurds in the European diasporaand those in the homeland, enabling diverse Kurdish perspectives to become moremutually intelligible, refusing to portray Kurdish culture as homogenous and withoutrelying on Kurdish nationalism as the only common denominator. She achieves thisthrough her portrayal of themes that resonate particularly with the diaspora—such ascultural practice outside the homeland and the preservation of it through memory—whilealso engaging in themes shared by most Kurds, like identity, community, persecution, andpolitics

Through actively using memory as a storytelling tool, the book itself becomes apiece of cultural memory as it preserves Kurdish history and perspectives in Iran and inEurope. While collective identities are often defined against one another, Sophie achievesan identity building without depending on othering, through exploring the developmentof the characters’ emotions and inner turmoil against the background of the differentKurdish struggles. She does so without relying on Kurdish nationalism alone to buildcommon identity and without conflating Kurdishness and Kurdish nationalism as one.

The book which will make up the main part of this thesis was written in this context.Dancing Amid Fire Rising Above Ruins by Essmat Sophie (2023) is focused primarily onthe context of Iranian Kurds and Kurds in European Diaspora. The focus of the analysisand the close readings will be the identity represented in the books and the way in whichthis identity is shaped by cultural memory and cultural practices. Books out of the2diaspora may represent very different realities which exist within the enormous variety ofKurdish experiences, with Sophie’s book telling the story of a women and her abuserthroughout time and space as well as her family’s story. The book also tells the story ofthe community of Kurdish people both in the character’s regions of origin as well as intheir host countries in the diaspora. To analyse how the author used identity and memoryin their book I first explored what identity even is and how it is formed. To incorporatethe Kurdish experience, I specifically looked at how collective identities are formed andeven more in detail, how national and cultural identities develop and how the main aspectsof Kurdish Identity are represented in literature as suggested by secondary literature to establish some basic guidelines for the analysis of the primary text. I followed the sameprocedure for the key concept of cultural memory. I then selected excerpts for a closereading relating to major themes in Kurdish literature, incorporating other texts to adddepth and variety to the analysis

2. Theoretical Approaches and Methodology

2.1. Methodology

Identity and memory are often part of literature and especially novels. I chose the bookDancing Amid Fire Rising Above Ruins by Essmat Sophie (2023) when I read it out ofpersonal interest and the themes of identity and memory were immediately apparent tome. To be able to make any determinations about the themes present in the book, I decidedto do close readings of four excerpts. I selected the excerpts based on what I perceived asthe major themes and oriented myself around themes often present in Kurdish literature,especially novels, as they were suggested by scholars. These themes will be investigatedin more detail in the passage of theory on Kurdish literature as it relates to identity, but itshall be mentioned now to clarify the selection of the excerpts. Two of the themes andexcerpts in question are community and cultural practices in the diaspora, the memory ofthese in the homeland, both of which fall under the larger umbrella of cultural identityand community. The other two fall under the broader category of persecution and politics,one excerpt focusing on the persecution and discrimination in the diaspora and the otherone on persecution and gender politics as well as Kurdish resistance in Iran. I felt these themes and the excerpts fit well within the major topics scholars prescribe to Kurdishliterature, which are persecution and suffering as well as women’s liberation and Kurdishresistance. In addition to that, I chose to include cultural production and community in the close reading and analysis, as I deem them very important, especially within theframework of the diaspora. To be able to answer the research question of whether bridgingthe gap between the Kurds in the homeland and those in diaspora is successfully achievedwithin the novel the excerpts as well as themes seemed suitable points of focus as well asfor detecting how Sophie develops the identities of her characters. It is worth mentioningthat, while I chose specific excerpts to reflect specific themes, these are certainly not theonly subjects discussed. The subject matters often overlap each other, and one may notbe clearly distinguishable from the other. In order to be able to make determinations aboutconcepts and issues dealt with in the book, I had to make certain cuts and deliberatelyleave out aspects of excerpts. The focus on identity and cultural memory came almostconsequently, as they are focus points of the novel as well as very closely related to themajor topics within Kurdish literature and therefor seemed a natural connector betweenthe various parties which are potential readers of this novel.

2.2. Identity

Who we are is multidimensional and covers many if not all aspects of our lives, fromwhere we live and what we eat to who we are friends with. And our self is made up ofmore than one identity: gender identity, sexuality, religion, ethnic and national identitiesamong others. For a lot of people, these different identities or partial identities that makeup the self, as well as changing realities, contrast each other and may at times hardly worktogether (David and Bar-Tal 355). Identity takes place on many different levels, frompersonal and individual to collective identities (David and Bar-Tal 354).

2.2.1. How is National Identity Formed?

We all are part of some group or other, but as Anna Triandafyllidou wrote “the nationremains the most pertinent form of collective identity” (593). It is a particular form ofsocial identity based on an imagined community (De Cillia et al. 153). Part of this “we”someone can belong to is the distinction to the “other” to focus on certain characteristicsand distinguish oneself and ones companions from others (Triandafyllidou 596). In theirstudy De Cillia et al. make five assumptions they deem most important for theconstruction of national identities (153-154), these will be examined here to establish abase for what national identities entail. The first are “imagined political communities”(Anderson qtd. in De Cillia et al. 153), uniting individuals in limited political actors,functioning as catalysts and ideals for action with at times “tremendously serious and destructive consequences” (De Cillia et al. 153). Secondly, national identities arediscursively created and upkept but can also be discursively disbanded or changed, theyare dependent on means like education, mass communication and militarization as wellas others to continue being in discourse and keep existing in the minds of people (DeCillia et al. 153; Mahmod 4, 40-41). The third proposition assumes national identity as ahabitus shared among its members, creating community based on “related emotionalattitudes (…) and similar behavioural dispositions”, manifested through socialization (DeCillia et al. 153). This understanding and socialization include the distinction from the“other”, as mentioned also by Triandafyllidou and Mahmod, which forms the penultimateassumption, the promise of uniqueness and a construction of a perceived sameness andhomogeneity (Triandafyllidou 593; De Cillia et al. 153; Mahmod 4, 39). But, and that isthe last assumption, there is no one national identity (De Cillia et al. 154). Everything ishighly dependent on context and always discursively constructed, which makes nationalidentities to a certain extent unstable and alterable, ultimately “dynamic, fragile,‘vulnerable’ and often incoherent” (De Cillia et al. 154).

As mentioned by David & Bar-Tal, national identity has not always been as relevant as itis today, it was only with time that dynamic movement of individuals within and acrossdifferent collective identities made it important to be able to explain certain identities thatmake up the self (354-355). Recently, globalisation has made these dynamic movementsmore frequent and made transnational identities more common (David and Bar-Tal 354).At the same time other collective identity markers have become more important throughthe process of localisation, also due to the increase of globalisation and world-widemigration (David and Bar-Tal 355). What becomes apparent again through the emerginglocalisation, is the need to distinguish oneself from others through establishing collectiveidentities based on commonness (Triandafyllidou 593; Mahmod 4). Mahmod mentionsdifferent functions of nationalism on different levels, as political doctrine (39-40), ascultural phenomenon (40) and as a moral ideal (40). Nationalism and national identity donot pertain solely to political dimensions but also to other aspects of life, culturally andas a moral ideal upon which to act. To summarize, national identity is a specific form ofcollective identity, in a political context, which is constructed and upheld and challengedthrough discourse and socialisation.

2.2.2. Identity in the Kurdish Context

Aspects of identity can also be contradictory when one or more factors contrast each otherwhich may be the case for Kurdish individuals. Perceiving their identity as made up ofmultiple, contrasting, identities (David and Bar-Tal 355), is a common development inthe Kurdish identity, due to the particular history in the region where most of its memberslive and originated from (see for example Toktamis in Harris 370-383; Bengio; A. Jabarand Mansour).

The Kurdish people are a population of roughly around 40 million people in the SWANA(Southwest Asia and North Africa) region alone (Rubin, Who Are the Kurds? 5).Thepopulation numbers are highly unreliable though because the nation states over which theKurdish regions span have not conducted reliable unpolitical censuses in a number ofyears (Rubin, Who Are the Kurds? 5). Additionally, some states, like Turkey have notrecognized the existence of the Kurdish population at all for the longest time (Ayata 18).Directly related to this are the similarly dubious numbers of Kurds who live in exile ordiaspora, with estimations of around a million Kurds living in Europe (Ayata 18). Thesefigures are so inexact because very few countries register Kurds as such, mostly they arecounted only by the nationality of the nation states from which they come, so either asSyrian, Turkish, Iraqi or Iranian (Ayata 18). The numbers of Kurds in Europe are basedon the Kurdish population in the countries of citizenship, which as mentioned before areunreliable themselves (Ayata 18).

Persecution and statelessness are of course not unique to the Kurds; many members ofminority groups face similar struggles. However, the situation for the Kurds may be alittle different, not because they are more deserving than others, but rather because of thesheer number of people. According to Rubin, if taken all together, even with the unreliablepopulation estimates, a unified Kurdish nation state would have a population larger thanfor example Canada or Poland and stretch over an area bigger than Austria (Who Are theKurds? 5). This makes the Kurds the largest people without a nation state (Rubin, WhoAre the Kurds? 5). Throughout time the Kurdish people have struggled again and againfor their independence, leading to tensions with nation states in which they reside seekingto assimilate them "into hegemonic, unified nation-states" (Bengio 9).

With the establishment of coherent nation states in the SWANA region in the 19th and 20thcentury, after the fall of different empires, sometimes at the hands of Europeans (Toktamis6in Harris 370-383; Rubin, Who Are the Kurds? 8-13), different group identities Kurds hadsubscribed to so far were challenged. Kurdish nationalism is often a strong convictionand identification with the countries of residence is often weak or does not take place atall in Kurdish communities. Kurdish people unite around “perennial bonds” and throughthat they make themselves a distinct nation with potential claims of their own nationalstate (Tunc 48). The shared history is intensified and blown up to justify the nationalism,many Kurds claim common ancestry and Kurdish emirates have existed throughout timemore than once (Rubin, Who Are the Kurds? 8-11). At least since the establishment of the nation-states which exist in the region today, connected Kurdish histories havebecome more substantial, with political aspirations for unity rising whenever theoppression by the other states becomes more severe (Rubin, Who Are the Kurds? 10-13).Fact remains, Kurdish nationalism is a common ideology among Kurds today, in Iran,Iraq, Turkey and Syria as well as in the diaspora (Tunc 59; Bengio 44; Mügge 181-182;Mahmod 42; Rubin, What Do the Kurds Want? 50). Kurdish nationalism does not entaila state nation emerging by destroying minority nation constructs, rather it is the aspirationof nation building by a minority (Mahmod 42). Although nationalism is a factor inKurdish identity, it goes beyond just national identity and includes those Kurds living inthe diaspora and all around the globe in different Kurdish communities (Bullock inKorangy and Mortezaee 159), creating a common goal and a base for efforts ofpreservation of language, culture and art. Even though Kurdish nationalism is a strongprevailing ideology, it is not the same as Kurdishness, the latter being more akin to “protoKurdish nationalism”, without the definite claim of statehood inherent in Kurdishnationalist understandings (Tunc 57). While its main use today is to legitimize the claimto nationhood and Kurdish nationalism, in its core it is a slightly different form ofcollective identity, not quite so tightly bound to modern, colonially-influencedunderstandings of nationhood (Tunc 57)

2.2.2.1. Politics and Persecution

Discrimination and persecution take up many forms in regard to Kurdish life. In terms ofeducation, many Kurds did not have access to high-quality education for the longest time,public schools often employing methods set on establishing the nation states and rigidclass systems with little social mobility (A. Jabar and Mansour 104, 190; Blum andHassanpour 325, 327; Mofidi and Aghapouri, 6-7, 13; Pillen, 4; Bengio, 35). Often thisis connected to the education of the Kurdish languages, many times prohibited7(Hassanpour et al. 372-375). To begin with, there are many languages or languagevarieties that can be considered Kurdish, which are not necessarily mutually intelligible(Rubin, Who Are the Kurds? 6), making the establishment of a standard difficult. Anothertremendously influential factor for the lack of standard is the constant marginalization and from time to time even prohibition of Kurdish speaking, writing and languageeducation, the persecution going so far that it may at times be considered attemptedlinguicide (Arpacık 45-46; Pillen 3-6; Hassanpour et al. 368-371). Prohibiting Kurdishlanguage education and limiting education for Kurds has at least two severeconsequences. On one hand, it prevents or prevented Kurds from learning Kurdish,excluding them from some cultural practices such as reading in Kurdish (Blum andHassanpour 327). On the other hand, limiting the education of Kurds whilesimultaneously prohibiting the daily use of Kurdish languages excluded and keepsexcluding Kurdish monolingual Kurds from participating in public life and literallysilences them (Pillen 4).

This is certainly not the only instance of politically-motivated persecution ordiscriminatory policies in the Kurdish context. Violence and the Kurds have a longcommon history, for example, the British used violence against the Kurds in the 1920’sto penalize and intimidate dissenters (A. Jabar and Mansour 24-25). Due to the limitedspace, only a few highlights, or to be more exact, lowlights will be examined here. InTurkey political and power interests led to the criminalization and prohibition of theKurdish Worker’ Party, which was for the longest time responsible or made responsiblefor many of the violent uprisings of the Kurds (A. Jabar and Mansour 93-94). TheKurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the different groups and parties that emerged out ofit are criminalized in many countries to this day (Dag 140). Overall, many things could be said on the PKK and similar groups but that would go beyond the scope of this paper.Other events which remain as jarring points in the Kurdish history are the Anfal campaignand the Halabja massacre by Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath regime in 1988 (Albert 219;Majid 1). Other violent episodes are the attacks committed by the Islamic State (ISIS),culminating in the war between Kurdish peshmerga (Kurdish freedom fighters) and ISISin Syria and Iraq (A. Jabar and Mansour 186) as well as the genocide against Yezidi Kurdsin the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh and Duhok (Yetkin 238). Not to mention the Armeniangenocide in the Turkish province of Van, in which different Kurdish tribes were involvedsometimes as protestors, but at times also as perpetrators (Polatel in Üngör and Işık 80, 84-85). Apart from that, several wars took place in the region during the 20th and 21stcenturies. Just to mention a few: the Iran-Iraq war, the first gulf war and the invasion ofthe US forces in Iraq. To expand on them all, even though this is just a selection, wouldexpand far over the boundaries of this thesis, therefore a mention here shall suffice

Apart from the several wars, attempted genocides and political persecutions, recentdevelopments in Iran shed light on another very important part of Kurdish politicalmovements and the ideologies which underscore them. The murder of Jina Amini throughthe Iranian morality police kicked off a new series of feminist protests worldwide butespecially in Iran (see for example Satrapi). What is often neglected is the fact that JinaAmini was a Kurdish woman (Toerkell) and that the first uprisings and protests after herdeath took place in the Kurdish regions and were organized by Kurdish communities(Radpey). This also sheds light on an issue very deeply connected with Kurdishresistance, women’s liberation. The slogan Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (“Women, Life, Freedom”,my trans.) which became known all over the world through the recent protests, has beena major part of Kurdish resistance for decades (Perrin, C. & Perrin, J. in Satrapi 26-29).

Overall, the identity of the Kurdish people is of course incredibly varied, but in everycommunity, it is characterized by a lot of suffering, be it through political persecution,inability to practice Kurdish culture or speak Kurdish languages or through the severalattempted genocides and the involvement in different violent conflicts. At the same time,resistance is equally important, being the inevitable counterpart to the persecution andsuffering.

2.2.2.2. Literature

Arts, and in the case of this thesis, writing and literature specifically, are of course tiedvery tightly to the languages and cultural practices and are important in forming identity(Ahmadzadeh, In Search of a Kurdish Novel 583). Kurdish literature, similar to Kurdishlanguages, was and partly is not free in expression, with a “long and tumultuous history”(Korangy and Mortezaee 1). A symbol for this tumultuous history is that the first Kurdishnovel was not published in any of the Kurdish regions, but rather in the Soviet Union(Ahmadzadeh, In Search of a Kurdish Novel 584-585). Another factor of complication isthat Kurdish literary tradition was largely oral (Cockrell-Abdullah 113; Strohmeier 30,34; Blum and Hassanpour, 327) and to an extent still is, for example in the form ofdengbêjs, oral performers who are and were part of Kurdish literary tradition, particularly in Kurdish regions in Turkey, but also in all of Kurdistan (Hamelink 1-2, 16; Korangy andMortezaee 23). Apart from this oral tradition, different written literary traditions exist inthe different Kurdish language varieties, particularly interesting with the book selected inmind, the novel as a literary genre with a distinct trans-national and cross-borderconnotation (Ahmadzadeh, In Search of a Kurdish Novel 579-580). While Mem u Zinwritten by Ahmad-e Khani in 1695 is generally considered one if not the first writtenKurdish story among scholars, finding guidelines for modern Kurdish novels and whatthey entail is far more difficult (Ahmadzadeh, In Search of a Kurdish Novel 592).

It is, as may be expected, particularly difficult to establish a canon of novels written bywomen, due to “various political, social, cultural and economic conditions” in thedifferent Kurdish societies (Ahmadzadeh, Kurdish Women's Novels 720, 734-735). TheKurdish novel has the possibility to expose societal structures and point out ongoingchanges and developments as well as represent parts of the society which areunderrepresented in political decisions and academic research or in daily life(Ahmadzadeh, In Search of a Kurdish Novel 592 ; Ahmadzadeh, Kurdish Women's Novels719).

As in all other aspects of Kurdish Studies, establishing the themes Kurdish literature dealswith is not simple, mostly due to the large amount of diversity among Kurdish people.The creation, as well as the interpretation of different works from the different Kurdishregions, are influenced by the political and cultural realities of the specific region andcan, therefore, vary greatly. Kurdish literature is not cohesive in language either. Manynovels are and were written in Arabic, Turkish, Persian and recently more and morenovels are being published in languages of the diaspora (Ahmadzadeh, In Search of aKurdish Novel 584; Alhamid in Korangy and Mortezaee 193, 199). Additionally the manydifferent Kurdish language varieties are represented in different intensities as well(Ahmadzadeh, In Search of a Kurdish Novel 584-585).

However, it has been possible to identify some central common themes across Kurdishliterature: the suffering of the Kurdish people, for example, through the Anfal campaign,the fight for (political) freedom and statehood as well as more recent tragediesexperienced by Kurds all over the world (Ahmadzadeh, Kurdish Women's Novels 737-738). Another reoccurring theme the authors write about is women’s liberation, althoughAhmadzadeh mentions this to be often subordinate to the question of statehood, astatement which may have to be revised when more recently-published Kurdish literature is examined, as the paper was published in 2008 and the Kurdish novel might havedeveloped since then (Ahmadzadeh, Kurdish Women's Novels 738; Korangy andMortezaee 174). These major themes will be looked at in detail in the close readings

When talking about literature in the diaspora, the frame for interpretation andremembrance is at least partly given. Not being in the nation states which suppress theKurds and their culture can be freeing, opening up the possibility of cultural and politicalproduction (Cockrell-Abdullah 109; Hussain in Korangy and Mortezaee 174). It is alsocharacterized by the personal identity components of the author in question, like thenation-state and circumstances they come from and currently live in, their politicalaffiliations, their faith or lack thereof and their connection to their homeland and family(Dag, 139). The Kurdish culture they have in common may unite the different narrativesand identity components to allow talking about a “diasporic literature” and culturalproduction (Dag 142-143). The diaspora allows access to a different relationship toborders, migration and what home and origin may mean (Zhang qtd. in Hussain inKorangy and Mortezaee 174). As in much of Kurdish literature, themes in Kurdishdiasporic literature include the trauma through tragedies, women’s liberation,(patriarchal) violence (Hussain in Korangy and Mortezaee 175-176), but may be lacedwith the experiences of transnationalism

2.3. Cultural Memory

2.3.1. What does Cultural Memory Entail?

Memory Studies is a field of study which bridges the gap between English and AmericanStudies and other fields of studies in social sciences and humanities (Erll 238). Culturalmemory is the relation between past, present and future in socio-cultural contexts by andthrough different “processes of a biological, medial, or social nature” (Erll 238). Theconcept of cultural memory serves the purpose of connecting for example Literary Studieswith the concepts of identity, memory and cultural heritage, among others (Erll 238).Towards the end of the 20th century the understanding of collective memory swerved froma biological “racial” understanding toward an understanding rooted in culture andCultural Studies (Assmann, J. and Czaplicka 125). It is important to study collectivememory, as it serves as a tool to discover group identity and be able to determine valuesand moralities as well as “constitution and tendencies” of a society (Assmann, J. andCzaplicka 133). Memory and collective identities are intricately linked, as memory is always kept alive by social groups and their belief systems and collective emotions withwhich they themselves practice memory and interpret the past (Confino in Erll et al. 77-78; Assmann, A. in Erll et al. 97). This includes what is remembered, how it isremembered and what is left out (Confino in Erll et al. 78). Cultural memory is not amonolith but is rather constantly changing, with certain aspects being forgotten anddisregarded, either systematically to feed a certain narrative, or simply to make space fornew concepts, ideas and challenges (Assman, A. in Erll et al. 97). There are differentvarieties of forgetting: active and passive forgetting (Assman, A. in Erll et al. 97-98).Passive forgetting is unintentional, with acts like hiding, abandoning, losing or neglectingsomething, which may be discovered later if it survives materially (Assmann, A. in Erllet al. 98). Contrary to that, active forgetting entails intentional violent destruction ofmemory directed at cultures other than that of the destructors or directed at a minority,acting as a form of censorship (Assmann, A. in Erll et al. 97-98). Remembering can alsotake an active or passive form, the active form entailing selective collection andestablishing a canon, a working memory and may take forms like museums or monuments(Assmann, A. in Erll et al. 99). Passive remembering is more of an accumulation,establishing an archive, a reference memory, although these are certainly not without management or curation and therefore still somewhat active (Assmann, A. in Erll et al.99)

Literature is part of cultural memory as well, “a body of commemorative actions” whichstore cultural knowledge not simply recording but also always interpreting andcontextualizing (Lachmann in Erll et al. 301). The intertextual nature of literature ensuresits embedding into cultural memory space, literature acting as a sort of mnemonic deviceconnecting art and memory (Lachmann in Erll et al. 301, 309). As mentioned before,selective memory works to establish a canon and the canon is of great importance for thecultural memory, as it shapes and sustains it due to its longevity, it characterizes the selfimage of a given society (Grabes in Erll et al. 311). Therefore, shifts in the canon can beindicative of shifts in values of societies (Grabes in Erll et al. 311),

2.3.2. Cultural Memory and Production in the Kurdish Context

Following this train of thought, establishing a canon can act as a political tool, it may gohand in hand with the violent destruction of minorities and outside cultures. This is thecase for at least part of the Kurdish art history, and Kurdish cultural memory. As in everyother aspect concerning Kurdish issues, the cultural memory and the way it is dealt with12may vary greatly depending on the part of Kurdistan talked about, but some aspects maybe true for every variety of Kurdish cultural memory. Kurdish cultural memory and itscarriers have almost always a political dimension. When art, performance and, of course,literature are censored and their producers or spreaders persecuted, the cultural productitself becomes politicized together with the memory it carries. An example of this politicized persecution and therefore politicized cultural memory are, as mentionedbefore, the dengbêjs, the oral performers and carriers of Kurdish cultural knowledge andhistory, who were severely persecuted and their art often prohibited (Hamelink 197-198).Artists, as well as scholars, and their works are “a product of a deeply divided politicalsystem” with social and systemic control working against free expression (CockrellAbdullah 109). Cockrell-Abdullah makes this statement about the Kurdistan Region inIraq (KRI) specifically, but I would argue that due to the political and social tensions inall parts of Kurdistan this holds up for all regions. Memory is often politized, sometimesby official actors (Cockrell-Abdullah 109), other times by private people often as protestand remembrance woven together (Göral in Üngör and Işık 106-107). Most often,Kurdish cultural memory deals with events of persecution and discrimination in differentforms like museums (Majid 139-153), protests (Göral in Üngör and Işık 110-112), songs(Hamelink 61), visual arts (Cockrell-Abdullah 107) or literature (Galip in Korangy andMortezaee 32).

Overall, cultural memory is tied very closely to cultural production, as in the case ofliterature, where it is an important part of working through and interpreting traumaticevents (Fortunati & Lamberti in Erll et al. 130). A case can be made that Dancing AmidFire Rising Above Ruins (Sophie) is an example of that. Traumatic events whichtranspired before, during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution in a Kurdish communityare represented and interpreted through the eyes of the different characters. This in turncan be very important in understanding one’s own identity when in the diaspora. Findinga connection to the homeland while being physically very far away from it, literatureseems a good option to get to know the places and stories when one is unable to be therephysically

3. Representation in the Book

In the book many tropes and themes are being negotiated through a number of methods.As mentioned before, I selected the excerpts already knowing what major themes I waslooking for to be able to determine whether the book can act as a cultural conduit between13the Kurdish diaspora and those living in the homelands or not. First, I will talk about thematters of cultural identity and community in the diaspora and the memory of how theymanifested in Iran. After that I focus on the themes which seem omnipresent in Kurdishcontexts: persecution, politics and resistance. All scenes which are looked at closely are scenes which show the resilience and expressions of cultural identity with which the novelis laced

3.1. Cultural Identity and Community

Overall, numerous scenes in the novel lend themselves to analysis through the lens ofcommunity and cultural practice, both within the homeland and in the diaspora. Thescenes selected for this are particularly expressive, offering insight into the various factorsthat shape Kurdish (diasporic) identity and the preservation of cultural memory in andbeyond the homeland. Through these moments, Sophie illustrates how communal bondsare maintained and reimagined despite displacement and migration, allowing for newforms of solidarity to emerge in exile. The narrative thus becomes a space where theboundaries between homeland and diaspora blur, as shared memories and culturalpractices transcend geography to sustain a sense of belonging. In doing so, the textforegrounds the resilience of Kurdish cultural identity and the capacity of literature toserve as both archive and connective tissue for a dispersed community.

3.1.1. Community and Cultural Practice in the Diaspora

As soon as my son hears the Kurdish dance music, he comes to me andtakes my hand. One step forward, one step back. Two steps to the left, onelong step to the right. We zigzag our feet and turn toward the right to repeatthe movements. I pick up the dish towel from the kitchen and turn it in theair like a dancing kerchief. It's a transcendent two-person dance. […]My son and I submit ourselves to the joyful sound of the music. We listenand dance. Dance is not merely listening to music and movingautomatically to its rhythm. Dance is never just listening. To be able to bein harmony with the music while dancing, it's not enough to move one'sbody. One has to feel its spirit. I move the dish towel through the air andsing along with the song: Flying from every side; Sorrow has attackedevery trace of me from every side! Zaniar, who is trying to strengthen hismother tongue, asks about the verse's exact meaning. I translate it for him.Laughing, he asks, “They have put such happy music on this sad song?Are we dancing to these sad words?” “Yes, we dance to sad lyrics. Mostof our songs are sad.” (Sophie 33-34).

In this scene, the main character, Tara, spontaneously dances with her son, Zaniar, withthe dance being an expression of culture and depending on cultural knowledge. They hear14the music, and both instantly know what to do, how to move and which accessories arerequired. Sophie describes the dance in quite a lot of detail, but the knowledge of how itlooks in reality and what Kurdish music sounds like is knowledge preserved for Kurdishreaders or those who possess this knowledge from research or experience. This may behinting at the target audience of the book, since, on a base level, the extract isunderstandable for every potential reader, providing enough description to make clearwhat is happening but on a deeper level, a more profound understanding is possible onlyfor people who possess the right set of knowledge.

Another aspect present in the scene is the memory Tara connects with the music and thedance. She thinks about the resilience of the Kurdish women she grew up with, Hanar andMahgoli (Sophie 34) and the hardships they have endured but also the resistance withinthe music and the art of dancing (Sophie 33). Like literature acts as a memory device incultural preservation (Lachmann in Erll et al. 301, 309), music and dance take this rolehere. But it also transports her back to moments of intense pain, the assassination of herhusband in Germany and the persecution she herself experienced in Iran (Sophie 34).

Zaniar, who grew up in Europe, outside of the Kurdish region in Iran, and does not speakKurdish fluently, has another use for the music, one very typical growing up with aminority language as your “mother tongue” (Sophie 34). He uses the song to practice, totry and better understand Kurdish, to deepen his connection to his heritage and family.Language is certainly part of the identity (David and Bar-Tal 356), so learning Kurdishcan be incredibly important for a feeling of belonging and a sense of who one is whenliving in diaspora. In this he discovers something very indicative of the Kurdish condition:the intense mismatch of outside appearance and internal ongoings. The music is veryhappy, but the lyrics are sad, which is a common occurrence in Kurdish music. Kurdishsongs often deal with Kurdish themes and if the themes present in literature are anyindication, it can be assumed that the subjects in question are often fairly dark and dealwith hardship and suffering (Ahmadzadeh, Kurdish Women's Novels 737-738). The shortpassage of the song the reader is provided with here can give the glimmer of an idea ofthe sadness present in the text; “Flying from every side; Sorrow has attacked every traceof me from every side!” (Sophie 34). It talks about sorrow and pain and makes it clear that this pain and suffering is inescapable. This makes it seem a suitable example of thesadness and sometimes even hopelessness in Kurdish art. But, as Sophie describes, themusic is happy, it is a “joyful sound” (34), leading to dancing and happy movement. This15can be read as almost symbolic of Kurdish life and therefore Kurdish resistance, beinghappy and living in the face of adversity. As Sophie mentions before, “Dancing forperseverance, dancing for staying alive, dancing for understanding a sense of belongingand authenticity” (33). Music also holds a special place in Kurdish history as it has beenone of the major factors in knowledge preservation for the longest time (Hamelink 1-2,16; Korangy and Mortezaee 23).

Interestingly, although the scene is quite short, Sophie represents different Kurdishdiasporic identities here. The way Zaniar connects with the music, the dance and thelanguage is starkly different to how Tara connects with it. And what may be even moreextreme, the way in which Taras daughter Zilan does not connect to that at all (33-34),occupied with her present life in Norway more than with what it means for her to beKurdish.

Two further points of interest come out of this scene: the community created through thedance and the activation and preservation of cultural memory enabled through culturalpractice. The creation of community through dance is relatively straight forward as thedance is traditionally communal. Tara starts out alone, but as soon as Zaniar joins her itbecomes a typical Kurdish dance, one you cannot dance alone but always needs at leastone other person to successfully dance. “dancing for understanding a sense of belongingand authenticity” (Sophie 33) gives an idea of the meaning this cultural practice holds;forming community, experiencing together, preserving culture and preserving life.Through dancing together Tara and Zaniar actively create togetherness, through the musicand the dance they actively make a memory of family and community for the future, whileat the same time Tara remembers members of her family and of her community she haslost through persecution or being physically removed from due to the fact that she livesin Norway. Keeping in mind the persecution of Kurdish art and culture as well as language(Hamelink 197-198; Cockrell-Abdullah 109; Korangy and Mortezaee 1), this culturalpractice serves two purposes. It is an act of resistance and at the same time it is anexpression of the freedom living in diaspora can grant to preserve cultural practiceswithout repercussion (Cockrell-Abdullah 109; Hussain in Korangy and Mortezaee 174).It is also a catalyst of cultural memory akin to how literature acts as a “body of commemorative action” (Lachmann in Erll et al. 301), as a framework for interpretationof the past. The dance takes a similar function: “To be able to be in harmony with themusic while dancing, it's not enough to move one's body. One has to feel its spirit.”16(Sophie 34). The dance connects past, present and future and relates them to one another,an act of making as well as experiencing cultural memory both at the same time (Erll238).

Sophie represents different relationships to Kurdishness and what being Kurdish entailsin this scene. Tara, Zaniar and Zilan all exhibit different levels of connection andunderstanding of the cultural practice. It is also a good example of how memory shapesidentity, with Taras’s sense of self being intricately tied to her memory of Kurdistan. Zilanand Zaniar do not have access to these memories themselves and have to make their ownconnections and own memories to keep their culture alive in the diaspora or choose notto do so.

3.1.2. Memory of Community and Cultural Practice

The second excerpt I selected employs a similar theme of dance, but in a very differentcontext. Sophie portrays a ritualized dance to express grief. It is a memory Tara has of theday Mahgoli lost two of her sons, who were executed by the Iranian regime (Sophie 143-145). Here, memory is employed to give an example of the discrimination Kurds facedand sometimes still face in Iran. But it is also another example of cultural practice andcommunity action.

“Hoy, heh, heh hoy... Sirvan, my beloved... Hoy heh...Shaho bawanakam...hoy, hey, ho... Mahgoli stood up. Her legs were still shaking. Shestraightened her back, put both her hands on her hips, opened the shawlfrom around her waist, turned her head toward the sky, and bent backwardas far as she could, as if to try and fill her lungs with as much air aspossible. She took a few deep breaths and wailed another Hooreh, Hey ho,hoho, hey ho.... […] Then, she started turning around in circles andstomping her feet on the floor. Mother and grandma and all the neighborswho had now filled the entire large courtyard were wailing, except forMahgoli, who kept turning around, stomping her feet, and letting outHooreh.” (Sophie 144-145).

The reader can experience the pain and trauma through Tara’s memory and learn aboutthe set ritual Mahgoli can employ in moments of intense pain and grief. The ritual is calledhooreh, a style of singing and oral tradition somewhat akin to the dengbêjs, sometimesused to retell stories, when sung by women it is often an expression of grief and a lament(Rashidi-Kalhur; 'Hora, a Voice of Kurdish Heritage'). It is, like the dengbêjs a form ofpreservation of cultural heritage. Similar to the excerpt before, the movement and soundare described with a certain amount of detail, but the sound is, also due to the nature of the book as a written document, privy to those who already know it. “Hey ho, hoho, heyho.... […] Then, she started turning around in circles and stomping her feet on the floor.”(Sophie 145). There are different levels of understanding depending on the level ofcultural knowledge the reader possesses. There are many similarities between this formof grievance and the traditional dance as described before, the shawl Mahgoli turns overher head (Sophie 145) and the dish towel Tara uses to emulate the traditional piece ofcloth used in dancing (Sophie 33) appear to serve similar purposes of expression in thedance or ritual

Another aspect of this excerpt is the connection of this memory to the repression Tara andher community experienced throughout her life. Mahgoli learns about her sons executionthrough regime forces but she finds a way to process her grief with the help of set culturalpractices and a community which joins her in her pain: “Mother and grandma and all theneighbours who had now filled the entire large courtyard were wailing” (Sophie 145).This expression of togetherness appears time and again in the book (see for exampleSophie 40-41) and especially within the memories of her childhood Tara relates to thereader (see for example Sophie 110-112, 139-143, 171-172). Within this community liesthe strength and the resilience. “She looked like a gazelle who had escaped from a lion”(Sophie 145), Mahgoli finds strength in the pain. “You cannot battle darkness with asword. You can only remove darkness with candles and light. Light a candle, my dearZaniar.” (Sophie 41), Mahgoli gives Zaniar a similar way out of his anger and grief withthe help of community, rituals and nature when he has trouble dealing with theassassination of his father (Sophie 40-41). Finding togetherness in pain and loss appearsto be a common theme within the story. The resistance within this ritual becomesespecially apparent when taking into consideration the warning soldiers gave to Mahgolibeforehand “Remember, Mother, mourning is forbidden” (Sophie 144), they explicitlywarn against mourning of the dead to prevent martyrdom and prevent communalgatherings.

The way Sophie uses punctuation in this excerpt with the repetition of the three periodsafter each hooreh is remarkable within the context of death. It suggests a transition insteadof an end, a sort of continuous process which is not yet finished but infinitely ongoing.The grief does not stop here. Rather it stays with Mahgoli forever, she uses the memoryof the horrible things she has experienced to become more capable and resilient (Sophie40-41). This is not dissimilar to what Tara does throughout the novel with her remembrance of what she and others in her community have experienced, turning theseinto resilience, points of communal gathering and togetherness.Here Sophie weaves together the themes of community and persecution by using the toolof memory. Mahgoli experiences a traumatic loss at the hands of the Iranian regime andfinds help in ritualised grieving and communal spirit. She uses her knowledge of culturalpractices passed on to her through members of the community who came before tobecome stronger in the face of a devastating loss. Through cultural memory these ritualswere preserved against destruction and forgetting under oppression. Through her activepractice against an explicit order telling her not to grieve she preserves this ritual foranother generation, for Tara.

3.2. Persecution, Politics and Resistance

As with the instances of community and cultural practices, examples of persecution anddiscriminatory politics appear frequently throughout the novel—often, though notalways, intertwined with acts of resistance and defiance. The two excerpts selected toillustrate persecution, politics, and resistance, such as those addressing cultural identityand community, are divided in scenes set in Iran, and those in the European diaspora, bothrecounted through the memories of individual characters. Through these memories,Sophie highlights how collective trauma continues to shape Kurdish identity acrossborders, revealing persecution as both a shared historical experience and a transnationalpoint of connection. Moreover, the juxtaposition of homeland and diaspora perspectivesunderscores how resistance takes on different forms depending on context—ranging fromovert political struggle to more subtle acts of cultural and emotional survival.

3.2.1. Persecution and Discrimination

I hear two people speaking Persian behind me. Someone else is talking inKurdish on a mobile phone a little further away. My heartbeat increases,and my hands start to shake. I direct the children to get into the car so theycannot hear anything. My entire being is filled with a sense ofhomelessness, a sort of illfated fear at the sound of hearing my mothertongue or Persian from strangers in a foreign land. All the memories ofdeath, sorrow, and agony are revived inside of me. […] We were sitting ina restaurant when two men approached our table and started speaking withAwat. They spoke Persian and Kurdish and engaged in a warmconversation with him about many things. […] Suddenly, both men stoodup erect and shot my husband down. My beloved husband took his last breath right in front of Zaniar and me, and his bloody, lifeless body fellbefore us. From that moment, every time I hear two strangers speakingPersian or Kurdish, fear consumes me, and I run. I won’t lose anyone else.(Sophie 39)

The scene described here is a stark example of the reach the Iranian regime may have,and an ultimate act of persecution politically active Kurds can be faced with. Sophiedescribes Tara’s memory of the time her husband was killed before her and her children’seyes, a case of a Kurdish man being assassinated in Europe, Germany specifically. Iranianforces reach so far in their power, that even in the diaspora in Europe, geographically faraway from Iran and the Kurdish regions, potential harm may await Kurds. In this scenemany different emotions and facets become apparent, the political persecution of Kurds,the trauma Tara and her children experienced and her complicated relationship to bothKurdish and Persian

For Zaniar, as was discussed before, Kurdish is interesting, he wants to learn it and alsospeaks it with other people outside the family to improve it (Sophie 61-67). It seems thatwhat Kurdish and speaking it evoke for him are curiosity and the wish to speak morefluently, to be more connected to his identity. Tara has a starkly different relationship withKurdish, and in her case also Persian. For her, hearing strangers speak Kurdish or Persianis so deeply connected with her husband’s assassination that it evokes terror and fear(Sophie 39). The languages she grew up with were marred so badly every time she hearsthem spoken in public she feels “a sense of homelessness” (Sophie 39). To a certain extentthis disconnected her from her Kurdish identity, rendering her unable to relax around herlanguage while in public. At the same time her experience is deeply connected to manyKurdish experiences of persecution and specifically executions and connects her story with others from her community within the book (see for example Sophie 61, 112, 116,139, 242). Ultimately, her husband’s assassination shows that even though she left Iranand Kurdistan behind to find safety with her family to be free. But she and her loved onescannot escape the regime and their violent forces. What also becomes apparent when looking at how Tara remembers her pain, is that she isnot suffering just for herself but carries with her the pain and loss of her children as well.This is akin to the pain and suffering of the Saturday Mothers in Cizre who protested theatrocities committed against them and their families by Turkish forces, especially massdisappearances (Göral in Üngör and Işık 110-114). While for these women their and theirchildren’s status is often unclear, a harsh side-effect of disappearing instead of dying (Göral in Üngör and Işık 115), two things are comparable here. The first is the genderedaspect of this form of memory making (Göral in Üngör and Işık 114), where women,often wives and mothers, are the ones left over after state violence of this manner occurs(Göral in Üngör and Işık 114) and the task of remembrance is left with them. The secondone is the aspect of continual experience of the memory connected to identity and deathin accordance with Fanons writing, where the memory is experienced over and over andtraumatic experiences lead to a continuous everlasting process of grief and suffering(Göral in Üngör and Işık 118). This temporal understanding of experience and memoryoccurs here as well, not in the form of a protest, like the Saturday Mothers, but throughthe continuous use of the languages connected to the trauma and the inescapability ofthem. Tara keeps experiencing the death and loss of her husband and her children’s painconnected to that (see for example Sophie 39-42). For the family, especially Tara andZaniar, the traumatic loss of husband and father respectively is so deeply embedded intotheir personal history and the Kurdish history that it changes their personality

Through this specific act of violence committed against Tara and her family, her personalpain and suffering become even more intricately intertwined with the suffering of allKurdish people or as Sophie puts it “personal adversity is mingled with public affliction”with the “communal demons of an entire nation” leading to an unmeasurable amount ofpain which can lead to a person being unable to act (Sophie 77). For Tara this means beingunable to do anything else but escape the situation, being so afraid of losing someone elseclose to her that she cannot do anything but flee (Sophie 39)

3.2.2. Politics and Kurdish Resistance

That day, Hanar and a few other girls and women from our area went tothe main street in the city to celebrate the occasion, ignoring the warningsabout the illegality of the March 8th demonstration. […] A throng ofwomen had gathered in the city square to protest and were shouting sloganssuch as: "We want equal rights. We didn't start a revolution to turn back time." Gradually, the volunteer members of the revolutionary militia andsome Kurds belonging to the Qur'anic School started arriving and shoutingcounterslogans. "Death to any woman without the hijab!" or "Wear thehijab or take a beating." At the same time, several revolutionary militiasthrew stones from the surrounding buildings, causing the women to entera nearby mosque - the Masjid Jame - and take refuge there. There, theytook the mosque megaphone and were chanting: "We didn't start arevolution to turn back time." […] The militias tried to enter the mosquein search of the women who had taken refuge in the mosque. People triedto stop them, but they forced their way into the mosque and started beatingthe women with sticks and canes. (Sophie 154)

Unlike the previously discussed scenes and excerpts this is not an experience or memoryexperienced and narrated by Tara, but rather the memory of Hiwa, the professor andmember of her community who assaulted her (Sophie 88-89). This shift in narrativeperspective already alters the framing considerably. Whereas Tara often recalls her pastfrom the viewpoint of a child, Hiwa is reflecting on the same historical moment—theIranian Revolution—from a fundamentally different position: he is adult and male. Theeverchanging perspective in the book, altering between Tara’s and Hiwa’s narration,elegantly reminds the reader of the diverse Kurdish perspectives that exist. Moreover,while Mahgoli and Hanar are intimately connected to Tara, their stories intertwined boththroughout their lives in Iran and their lives in the European Diaspora, Hiwa wants to bevery close to Hanar but is unable to really grasp her attention or make any real name forhimself in the Kurdish village they all come from. He remains on the periphery of theotherwise tight-knit community. His fixation on Hanar defines the narrative in thisexcerpt: he seeks proximity but fails to gain her attention or establish significance withintheir Kurdish village, always cautiously keeping to the margins, never taking too muchaction. The reader does not learn anything really about Hiwa’s thoughts and inner turmoilwhich are often part of the retellings from Taras perspective (see for example Sophie 39-42). Hiwa is not removed from the situation, he definitely feels connected to the womenhere, as can be seen by him going to observe the protest (Sophie 154), but he is notinvolved enough to actually participate, sticking to just simply observing, unwilling toengage directly

In this scene one of the more salient aspects is the intersectional form of discriminationthe women suffer. They are being persecuted on dual grounds: their gender identity, beingwomen, and their ethnic identity, being Kurdish. They suffer due to who they are, anidentity not freely chosen but assigned to them or as Sophie tells the reader from Tara’s perspective “forced identity without the right to choose any of it” (111). This scene servesas an example of the general persecution of Kurdish people after the revolution in 1979as well as the patriarchal violence the women suffer. This intersectional form ofdiscrimination is one we can still observe today, for example in the case of Jina Amini(Toerkell; Radpey). With this scene Sophie underscores the continuity of Kurdishwomen’s struggle for autonomy—a fight sustained across generations and geographies,as countless women persist in resisting patriarchal structures and state violence (Toerkell;Radpey; Satrapi).

The complex diversity within various Kurdish communities is also represented in thisscene, with some Kurdish Muslim men fighting alongside the regime forces against thewomen’s liberation movement (Sophie 153-154). While in large the Kurdish liberationmovements understand themselves as feminist, as can be seen in the use of the Jin, Jiyan,Azadî slogan, the reality of patriarchal societies in which Kurdish women live in stillexists. Sophie acknowledges these differences through the inclusion of the diverse actionsdifferent Kurdish people are taking in this scene and highlights how different individualaspects of identity inform these actions.

By linking Hanar’s story to the feminist struggle in Iran, Sophie manages to recentrewomen’s liberation within the wider scope of Kurdish resistance. For many readers theimages of the worldwide protests after Jina Amini’s death may be inevitably connectedto this scene, bringing the Kurdish participance and importance in this fight, which isoften neglected (Toerkell) back into focus. Feminist uproar is present at many points inthe book but most in the two scenes which centre Hanar’s long-standing activism in theWomen Life Freedom movement. Towards the very end of the novel, Sophie also activelydraws the parallel of the feminist Kurdish fights right after the revolution to theaforementioned worldwide protests in the wake of Jina Aminis’ death and the feministactivism many women seek in the diaspora. By once again placing Hanar at the centre ofa feminist demonstration the connection between the events shortly after the revolutionand the current events becomes clear (Sophie 297-299). She brings together the politicalevents in Oslo and the political events in Iran and Kurdistan through this story

Within the novel’s narrative arch, we have an interesting opposition between the role ofMahgoli and Hanar and many of the men in the story, especially Hiwa. Mahgoli is afeminine community leader, opposing traditional gender roles in the way she organizes and gathers people around her (Sophie 140-145). She acts as spiritual guidance formembers of her community and as a healer when they are faced with hardship (Sophie40-41). Hanar also takes the position of a guiding force and confidant (Sophie 90-92).Additionally, they are both an active part of Kurdish resistance (Sophie 124-125, 144-145, 219), whereas Hiwa is characterized throughout more akin to a coward and afollower and not necessarily as a leader (Sophie 90, 240-243). This, of course, does notmean that he has not experienced suffering and pain, but he works very differently withwhat he has than Hanar or Mahgoli.

In this scene this is represented as well how Hanar is an active participant in thedemonstration, while Hiwa is an onlooker who does not engage even when the womenare violently assaulted (Sophie 154). Portraying these three characters so distinctlydifferent paints a powerful image of female action and male passivity and provides anuanced critique of patriarchal complicity while centring women as agents of resistanceand transformation. It ties together the different stages of feminist uprising in Iran andgives notice to the different motives people may have to participate, be it general feministresistance or the Kurdish women’s fight against intersectional oppression. Sophie alsoties these events to current political developments and makes clear the connectionbetween what is happening today and what happened right after the revolution.

4. Conclusion

To connect diverse Kurdish experiences and make them more mutually intelligible in thediaspora and the Kurdish regions, Sophie employs many different methods and exploresa host of different themes. Overall, the novel unites the numerous aspects of identity,memory and resistance without using Kurdish nationalism as the guiding force of unity.One of the more salient dimensions of Kurdish identity that emerges is the amount ofvariety of perspectives and the individuality within a broader collective identity. Thereader has the chance to encounter many different Kurdish characters, both in theEuropean diaspora and in Kurdistan, characters of many different political affiliations andpersonal experience and world view. The collective identity emerges as not a monolithicone, as one might think at first, rather it appears to be shaped by the interplay of differentaspects that make up the self. The different perspectives arise from the different lives andcontexts the characters inhabit. Sophie achieves a multilayered understanding of Kurdish people; she successfully highlights the differences and counters the idea of a monolithicpeople with the singular goal of statehood

And yet, despite this diversity, many aspects emerge which unite the different views andbind the characters together in a sense of collective belonging. These themes are the sameones which frequently emerge in Kurdish literature – persecution through state actors, thestruggle for political representation and the acts of resistance, both collective andindividual, that emerge from oppression. Through employing these themes, Sophiemanages to reassert the resilience and strength of the Kurdish community whilehighlighting the brutality they experienced in Iran before and after the revolution. Theresistance is characterized not only as political action but as a deeply cultural andemotional process rooted in memory and the need to preserve cultural practices and waysof living for the future. In this the novel suggests that collective identity is rooted not onlyin sentiments like nationality, nationalism or political unity but in the capacity to adapt,to work together despite differences and relying on memory and shared history to bridgethe gaps. Through emphasizing both the fragmentation as well as the unity, Sophiecaptures lived realties of a people scattered across borders and countries bound bycollective remembrance and a will to aspire to freedom.

This willingness to fight appears especially in the way Mahgoli, Hanar and Tara resistagainst the oppression they suffer, against the onslaught of grief and pain. Sophie weavestogether the biographies of these women in a manner that emphasizes community and thesentiment of being stronger together. While they all have individual stories, at manyimportant points they come together or experience them together. Ultimately, they forma powerful trio coming together in hard times, being vulnerable in front of the other whenthey cannot be to outsiders. Tara manages to be at peace with her pain after all the hardshipshe endured. Through the action the women take Tara gains a renewed sense of herself,of her identity and in the end does not remain helpless, unable to do anything but flee.Through the memory she has preserved of her childhood she is able to regain power overher life and become self-determined again. Being alone in Norway is mitigated byinstances of togetherness as well as memory of community in Kurdistan. Sophie employsmemory to connect the past, future and present of the characters, especially Tara, and usesit to make meaning of events which transpire in the present but are rooted in the past

Apart from using memory in such a meaningful way, the novel itself constitutes a part ofcultural memory, of Kurdish cultural memory in general but specifically of diasporicKurdish cultural memory. Sophie adds a significant contribution to a field of literaturewhich is simultaneously unique and universal. The themes of wanting to belong, strivingfor better understanding of one’s own past and trying to find one’s place in aneverchanging world are very common, relatable to most readers. The special case of theKurdish diaspora is quite unique, as it pertains to only a relatively small number of people.She manages to embed her story in historic events in an authentic manner, allowing herto broadcast these specific, individual struggles to a broader audience. At the same time,she adds words, descriptions and cultural practices specific enough to make themavailable only to a certain audience, allowing a different reading depending on thereader’s involvement in Kurdish culture, history, language. While she focuses on thecharacter’s pain and loss and with that stays in line with the common themes in Kurdishliterature, she paints a picture of a very diverse Kurdish society, both in Kurdistan and inthe diaspora. She refuses a homogenous representation and includes diverse perspectivesand understandings through including Kurdish people of different gender identities, agesand with varying degrees of connection to Kurdish region in Iran.

Sophie examines the intricacies of Tara’s grief, about her identity in Kurdistan as a child,her identity as a woman, wife and mother, as a victim of political and state persecution aswell as a victim of sexual harassment. But she does not focus solely on the tragic eventsbut allows the character to emerge from them with a renewed and changed outlook onlife. She achieves this through remembering and going forward with the memory, notforgetting but still moving on. Tara learns from her community, from her family andultimately she uses the memory of her hardship to move forward; “We can learn fromthose wounds, or we can keep being wounded and use the wounds as excuses not to useour intelligence and cleverness and forever remain victims” (Sophie 40-41). She uses thespirit for collective as well as individual action and becomes empowered through them.Another remarkable effort Sophie makes is the connection between past and present notonly through characters’memory but also through the parallels she draws between events.This elegantly ties together the Kurdish women’s liberation efforts and the moreglobalized and broader women’s liberation movements today. The death of Jina Aminiand the importance of it for many women, no matter the ethnic or religious identity,become incredibly obvious. While making the globality of this movement apparent, Sophie succeeds in centring the importance of Kurdish women in the historic as well asthe current movements.

Surely there are many more aspects one could focus on like an in depth analysis of thefeminist aspects or the themes of abuse and patriarchy with a wealth of options forinterpretation of this novel which would make great topics for further research, but thethemes of identity and finding oneself through memory and community while being awayfrom the community are more than evident.

Traditionally, much of the Kurdish literature and especially the novels paint a morehomogenous picture of Kurdishness, often centred around the statelessness, the strive forfreedom and only more recently some have come to deal with Kurdish identity in thediaspora and the specific challenges this holds. The novel is a powerful connectionbetween Kurdish life in Europe and in Kurdistan, it is an emotional and carefuldeliberation of what it can mean to be a woman in a patriarchal society and howcommunity and memory help shape us. It plays with the different perspectives to providea detailed and multifaceted idea of the Kurdish community in Iran and in Europe andhelps to make the heterogeneous experiences of different Kurdish people understandable.Ultimately, Sophie intricately weaves together themes of identity, memory, and resistanceto illuminate the complex realities of Kurdish life both in Kurdistan and beyond itsborders.

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Essmat Sophie