Mehmed Uzun
Encyclopedia
Mehmed Uzun was a contemporary Kurdish
writer and novelist. He was born in Siverek
, Urfa, Turkey
.
Although the Kurdish language
was outlawed in Turkey from 1920 to 1990, he started to write in his mother tongue. As a writer, he achieved a great deal towards shaping a modern Kurdish literary language and reviving the Kurdish tradition of storytelling. From 1977 to 2005 he lived in exile in Sweden
as a political refugee. During his time in Scandinavia
, he became a prolific writer, author of a dozen Kurdish language novels and essays, which have made him a founding member of modern Kurdish literature in Kurmanji
dialect. In June 2005 he returned to Istanbul
, Turkey
. He was a member of the PEN
club and the Swedish writers association.
On May 29, 2006, it was revealed that Uzun had been diagnosed with cancer
. Following treatment at the Karolinska University Hospital of Stockholm
, in Sweden
he returned to Diyarbakir
, Turkey
, where he died, aged 54.
. Uzun published his first attempt at a modern Kurdish novel in 1985, Tu (You). After that he edited an anthology of Kurdish literature, the first of its kind. Critical success came with his novel "In the Shadow of a Lost Love" (Siya Evînê). The story fictionalizes a 1920s Kurdish intellectual's failed struggle to pursue both his love for a woman and his duty to fight the newly formed Turkish republic.
His novels began to be translated into European languages in the 1990s. Two of his books have been published in Swedish
: a collection of essays, Granatäppelblomning (The Pomegranate Flowers), and the novel I skuggan av en förlorad kärlek (In the Shadow of a Lost Love). In collaboration with Madeleine Grive, he has also published an international anthology,
Världen i Sverige (The World in Sweden), a pioneering anthology of texts by writers who were not born in Sweden
, but who are living and writing there. He also publishes in the journal of the Kurdish Institute of Paris
, Kurmancî. He won the Torgny Segerstedt Award for 2001 for his work in a narrative tradition.
's central prison. During his trial in the summer of 1976, he attempted to prove the existence of the Kurds and the Kurdish language. The prosecutor's argument was that the Kurds and their language had no form of existence. Anyone claiming the opposite was considered a separatist and deserved to be punished. He was sentenced to eight months in prison. After release, he was still under the threat of indictment on account of his responsibilities as editor of the aforementioned magazine, and consequently he chose exile and left for Sweden in 1977. The regulations prevailing in Turkey at the time made return to his native country impossible.
Subsequently, in 1981, by decision of the military regime and like many other Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals, he was stripped of his nationality. He resumed his linguistic quest in Stockholm
, aided by grants from the Swedish government. To collect vocabulary and folklore
, he visited an Iraqi Kurdish leader in a rebel-held mountain valley of Iraq
, spending evenings in a tent listening to Kurdish poets and storytellers by the light of an oil lamp. He learned Arabic script to read classical Kurdish poems of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Later, he hunted down rare copies of a magazine published by Kurdish exiles in the 1920s. The ill-fated adventures of these pioneers form the backbone of two of his novels, which, like all of his fiction, detail the struggles of Kurds through the ages. He also led an editorial board of intellectuals, who would pay for Kurds to fly to Europe
to brief them on obscure vocabulary.
When after many years of living in exile, he went back to Turkey to give a speech about Kurdish literature, seven of his books, six in Kurdish and one in Turkish
, were suppressed by Judgment no. 2000/39 of the Fourth Court for State Security of Diyarbakır
, dated February 4, 2000.
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
writer and novelist. He was born in Siverek
Siverek
Siverek is a town and district in the south-east of Turkey, in Şanlıurfa Province. Population 107,634 ; 247,000 .Siverek is in Şanlıurfa province but closer geographically to the large city of Diyarbakır...
, Urfa, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Although the Kurdish language
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
was outlawed in Turkey from 1920 to 1990, he started to write in his mother tongue. As a writer, he achieved a great deal towards shaping a modern Kurdish literary language and reviving the Kurdish tradition of storytelling. From 1977 to 2005 he lived in exile in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
as a political refugee. During his time in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, he became a prolific writer, author of a dozen Kurdish language novels and essays, which have made him a founding member of modern Kurdish literature in Kurmanji
Kurmanji
Kurmanji or Northern Kurdish is the most commonly spoken dialect of the Kurdish language.- Scripts and books :...
dialect. In June 2005 he returned to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He was a member of the PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
club and the Swedish writers association.
On May 29, 2006, it was revealed that Uzun had been diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Following treatment at the Karolinska University Hospital of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
he returned to Diyarbakir
Diyarbakir
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where he died, aged 54.
Works
He published seven novels in KurdishKurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
. Uzun published his first attempt at a modern Kurdish novel in 1985, Tu (You). After that he edited an anthology of Kurdish literature, the first of its kind. Critical success came with his novel "In the Shadow of a Lost Love" (Siya Evînê). The story fictionalizes a 1920s Kurdish intellectual's failed struggle to pursue both his love for a woman and his duty to fight the newly formed Turkish republic.
His novels began to be translated into European languages in the 1990s. Two of his books have been published in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: a collection of essays, Granatäppelblomning (The Pomegranate Flowers), and the novel I skuggan av en förlorad kärlek (In the Shadow of a Lost Love). In collaboration with Madeleine Grive, he has also published an international anthology,
Världen i Sverige (The World in Sweden), a pioneering anthology of texts by writers who were not born in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, but who are living and writing there. He also publishes in the journal of the Kurdish Institute of Paris
Kurdish Institute of Paris
Kurdish Institute of Paris , founded in February 1983, is an organization focused on Kurdish language and culture. It is one of the main Kurdish academic centers in Europe...
, Kurmancî. He won the Torgny Segerstedt Award for 2001 for his work in a narrative tradition.
The Quest for Protecting the Mother Tongue
Mehmed Uzun was charged several times in Turkey due to his activities in the field of Kurdish literature . He was arrested on March 21, 1976 as managing editor of a Kurdish-Turkish magazine, and was accused of "separatism" and jailed in AnkaraAnkara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
's central prison. During his trial in the summer of 1976, he attempted to prove the existence of the Kurds and the Kurdish language. The prosecutor's argument was that the Kurds and their language had no form of existence. Anyone claiming the opposite was considered a separatist and deserved to be punished. He was sentenced to eight months in prison. After release, he was still under the threat of indictment on account of his responsibilities as editor of the aforementioned magazine, and consequently he chose exile and left for Sweden in 1977. The regulations prevailing in Turkey at the time made return to his native country impossible.
Subsequently, in 1981, by decision of the military regime and like many other Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals, he was stripped of his nationality. He resumed his linguistic quest in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, aided by grants from the Swedish government. To collect vocabulary and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, he visited an Iraqi Kurdish leader in a rebel-held mountain valley of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, spending evenings in a tent listening to Kurdish poets and storytellers by the light of an oil lamp. He learned Arabic script to read classical Kurdish poems of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Later, he hunted down rare copies of a magazine published by Kurdish exiles in the 1920s. The ill-fated adventures of these pioneers form the backbone of two of his novels, which, like all of his fiction, detail the struggles of Kurds through the ages. He also led an editorial board of intellectuals, who would pay for Kurds to fly to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to brief them on obscure vocabulary.
When after many years of living in exile, he went back to Turkey to give a speech about Kurdish literature, seven of his books, six in Kurdish and one in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, were suppressed by Judgment no. 2000/39 of the Fourth Court for State Security of Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
, dated February 4, 2000.
Books
- Tu (You), Novel, 1985.
- Mirina Kalekî Rind (Death of a Nice Old Man), Novel, 1987.
- Siya Evînê (Shadow of Love), Novel, 1989. Translated into Swedish as "I skuggan av en förlorad kärlek" ,Översättning av Ingmar Björkstén, Ordfront förlag, 241 s., Stockholm, 2001, ISBN 91-7324-716-2, Pris: 303 SEK
- Ji Rojên Evdalê Zeynikê (From the days of Evdal Zeynikê), Novel, 1991.
- Destpêka Edebiyata Kurdî (The Beginning of Kurdish Literature] ,Research, 1992.
- Mirina Egîdekî (Death of a Hero), Poetry, 1993.
- Hêz û Bedewiya Pênûsê (The Strength and Beauty of the Pen), Essays, Nudem Publishers, 203p., 1993.
- Bîra Qederê : Roman (Memory of Destiny: A Novel), Istanbul, Avesta Publishers, 1995, 260 p. (Re-published by Nefel, Sweden, 2002, ISBN 91-89687-11-6).
- Världen in Sverige (Anthology, in Swedish)
- Dinya Li Swêdê (The World in Sweden), same anthology, in Kurdish, with Madliene Grive, 1995.
- Antolojiya Edebiyata Kurdî (Anthology of Kurdish Literature] (anthology, 2 vols., 1995).
- Ronî Mîna Evînê Tarî Mîna Mirinê (Light like Love, Dark like Death), Novel, Avesta Publishers, 350 p., 1998.
- Hawara Dîcleyê I, Novel, Nefel Publishers, Sweden, 230 pp., 2003, ISBN 91-89687-13-2.
Articles
- Mehmed Uzun, "Words Washed by the Waters of the Euphrates", International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Vol.14, No. 1&2,pp.36-40, 2000.
- Mehmed Uzun, The Kurdish Renaissance in Exile, The Journal of the International Parliament of Writers, Vol. 1, Jan. 2001, pp.67-78.
- Mehmed Uzun, The Nature of Fiction, Index on Censorship Journal, vol.4, 2001.
- Mehmed Uzun, Diyarbakir: the slap in the face, International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan. 2003.