Kurdish women’s feminist poetry: developing a voice in southern Kurdistan and the diaspora

This paper analyzes modern Kurdish poetry under the rubric of female writers from Southern Kurdistan, in the period spanning 1990 to 2009. After decades of suppression, Kurdish women’s poetry and literature emerges in 1991, following the liberation of Southern Kurdistan from under the yoke of the Ba’ath party. The research is based on a close analysis of the development of Kurdish literature and poetry in modern times. It focuses on the social and cultural value of the said women poets. As such, it highlights the powerful Kurdish feminist artistic activity in Southern Kurdistan-and the diaspora. It further shows that these poets and their poetry reflect the historical and political discourse within which they flourished. They represent the artists’ opposition to patriarchal law, their struggle in defense of their freedom of expression and identity, not to mention their struggle for equality and justice. Four women poets’ works are representative of the focus of the analysis herein. Their poetics addresses issues such as gender inequality, honor killing, and the patriarchy. Furthermore, the essay investigates the consequences of violence, conflict, and displacement that have burdened the Kurdish people over the last decades.