Solidarity without borders: The poetic tributes to Paul Robeson of Goran and Cegerxwîn

Abstract

This article examines the tributes to Paul Robeson made by the two most prominent 20th-century Kurdish poets, Abdulla Goran and Cegerxwîn, who wrote in the two main dialects of the Kurdish language: Sorani and Kurmanji. It highlights the humanist, anti-racist and anti-colonial social and political engagement of Goran and Cegerxwîn as reflected in their poetry, and suggests how this can be read in the context of postcolonial writing and theory. It also aims to contribute more generally to the study of progressive solidarity discourses during the Cold War period as reflected in literary works. After a brief review of the historical origins and development of Kurdish nationalism, the article examines the literary and political careers of Goran and Cegerxwîn, as well as the life and political struggle of Paul Robeson. The body of the article analyzes Goran’s and Cegerxwîn’s tributes to Robeson, as instances of their radical humanist, anti-racist and anti-colonial political stance, and in terms of their solidarity with the African American singer, actor and civil rights activist.

Keywords:

• Cegerxwîn
• Abdulla Goran
• Paul Robeson
• Kurdish poetry
• solidarity
• anti-racism

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for support of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, via its 2219 postdoctoral fellowship, in the writing of this article at the University of Toronto in the summer of 2014. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance provided by the American Research Institute in Turkey, the Honigberg Fellowship for Study in Paris, the Turkish Prime Ministry Archives in Ankara and the Kurdish Institute in Paris. Professor Amir Hassanpour, Hamit Bozarslan, Ömer Faruk Yekdeş, Mezher Yüksel, Ariel Salzmann, Zozan Pehlivan, Orit Bashkin, Kamal Soleimani, Celîlê Celîl and the anonymous JPW reviewers provided invaluable help with specific details. A version of this article was delivered as a talk at Üsküdar University’s Symposium “Facing Orientalist Codes: Postcolonial Approaches” on 19 February 2015 in İstanbul.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Sorani, the southern dialect of the Kurdish language, is written in a slightly modified Arabo-Persian script. Following the example of Joyce Blau (2008, 21), my transliteration from Sorani follows Kurmanji, the northern dialect of the Kurdish language and written in the Latin script.

2. The Soviet-educated scholar of modern Kurdish history, Professor Celîlê Celîl, mentions in a personal communication that, together with some other Kurdish intellectuals in Soviet Armenia, he took a photo with Goran during one of his visits.

3. I have drawn on the biography of Cegerxwîn given by Keith Hitchins (2012b) alongside an analysis of his poetry. Qanatê Kurdo (2010, 186–188) also provides Cegerxwîn's biography. An exceptional primary source is a video-taped interview between Cegerxwîn and the current head of the Paris Kurdish Institute, Kendal Nezan, in 1983 in Paris (Cegerxwîn 1983). Thanks to Abdullah Keskin for bringing it to my attention. Thanks, also, to the TV Channel KURD1 in Paris for providing me with a copy of this interview.

4. The two documents from the Turkish Prime Ministry Republican Archives (the BCA – the Archives’ Turkish acronym), banning Cegerxwîn’s collections of poetry in Turkey are referenced there as follows: BCA Fon Kodu: 030. 18. 01. 02, Yer No: 110. 5. 15, 10/1/1946; BCA Fon Kodu: 030. 18. 01. 02, Yer No: 139.42. 2, 6/5/1955.

5. It should be emphasized that Hawar was banned in Turkey, with the decision signed by the Turkish President and the Cabinet. The original documents relating to this are also archived in the BCA: Fon Kodu: 030. 18. 01. 02, Yer No: 29. 43. 13, 30/5/932. Moreover, Celadet Bedirkhan’s long letter to Mustafa Kemal was also banned in Turkey: BCA Fon Kodu: 030. 18. 01. 02, Yer No: 47. 54. 16, 1/8/934. A researcher points to Celadet’s 1933 letter as the “earliest postcolonial text in the Kurdology literature” (Keskin 2012, 11–12).

6. For Robeson’s autobiography, see Robeson (1988). Foner (1978) brings together Robeson’s writings, speeches and interviews. Paul Robeson Jr. published two books on his father (2001, 2010). See also Duberman (1995), and documentary films by Turell (1979) and Bourne (1999).

7. Cegerxwîn uses the Kurdish indigenous cultural term dengbêj, which can be translated into English as bard, minstrel or oral poet, singer and composer.

8. The dictionary of Chyet (2003) has been useful in my translations. I am also grateful to Evdila Dirêj for explaining some Kurdish words in the poem.