Metin Yüksel
Abstract
Despite his outstanding place in the study of Kurdish society, culture and literature, sadly, Elaeddîn Seccadî has not received ...
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Despite his outstanding place in the study of Kurdish society, culture and literature, sadly, Elaeddîn Seccadî has not received the scholarly attention he deserves. The very few sources on his works tend to be descriptive and biographical accounts. This exploratory paper sets out to put into perspective Seccadî’s continued use of the concept of kurdewarî. It is notable that Seccadî is often concerned to put the Kurdish language, culture and literature on a par with those of other nations in the world. Indeed a quick glance at the forewords he penned in his works shows his recurrent references to “other nations” while talking about the Kurds. This paper suggests that more justice can be done to his intellectual legacy by placing Seccadî’s works in their broader political and historical milieu. An invitation to approach his contributions beyond a merely descriptive and/or romanticizing manner, this preliminary study attempts to draw parallels between Seccadî’s concept of kurdewarî as it appears in his two books entitled Mêjûy Edebiy Kurdî and Kurdewarî, and the concept of négritude used by African-Caribbean intellectuals. It is suggested that both concepts aim to delineate distinctive and self-affirming Kurdishness and Africanness.
