Printer-friendly VersionBy Dr Hashem Ahmadzadeh
The Kurdish Globe
After a couple of years Halala establishes herself well in Sweden where she now studies and has found a job at the Kurdish programme broadcasted by Swedish Radio. Soon she is contacted by her parents who are still in Kurdistan who ask whether she could help Sherzad to arrive in Sweden. Sherzad is the son of one of Mirza's friends who has joined the party as a fighter. He used to visit Halala's home in the village before she left Kurdistan to Sweden. Mirza thinks that if Sherzad arrives in Sweden he can marry Halala. Halala, following her father's recommendation, helps Sherzad to arrive in Sweden, through pretending that he is her husband. For Halala it is only a way of helping Sherzad without having any interest in him. When Sherzad arrives in Sweden he shows his deep love to Halala and tries to persuade her to get married to him. It takes a couple of years until Halala gives up and marries him and they start living together, although they were officially married two years previously. On one occasion she tells Sherzad that she has helped him to arrive in Sweden because of Braymok's memories. She thinks by doing this she makes Braymok's soul happy.
In the beginning they have a nice life. However, soon the problems rise. Alongside the conflicts between Halala and Sherzad the crises of identity are also revealed. Halala who has started studying at the university complains about Sherzad's lazy character and how he does not try to adjust himself to life in Sweden. Sherzad works at a barber shop and is far from successful in learning the language and the codes of his new life in a new country. They have now a daughter, Arazu. At the university Halala meets a lecturer, Dr Said, who is a Kurd from the Kurdish city Kirmashan. Dr Said is single and lives with his daughter, Farzaneh. Halala likes her teacher a lot and is very much influenced by his knowledge and character. Once Halala invites him to her home and Dr said starts a friendship with both Halala and Sherzad. However, gradually Sherzad becomes jealous of Halala's relationship with Dr Said. He starts harassing her because of this relationship. The unequal development of Halala and Sherzad's characters result in an increase of the problems in their relationship. Sherzad who has become jealous, worried, sad and depressed fights regularly with Halala. He has started gambling. After having been thrown out of the home by Halala he kidnaps Arazu from school and goes to Frankfort to one of his cousins. Halala goes there and brings her daughter back. Police arrest Sherzad. These problems finally result in their divorce.
Nevertheless, their divorce is not the end of the story. Halala's contacts with Dr Said continue. Dr Said moves to the building where Halala lives and they become neighbours. Their relationship intensifies and they regularly meet. Dr Said for Halala is the identification of her deep love to Braymok. Some months after their divorce Sherzad rings at Halala's door, apparently to collect his personal stuff. Halala, who is alone at home opens the door. After a short conversation while Halala helps Sherzad to collect his stuff, Sherzad who is only imagining Halala's relationship with Dr Said, stabs Halala with a dagger that he had been given by Halala's father in Kurdistan. Halala falls down and her head hits the foot of a sofa and is left unconscious. Three or four days later Sherzad was arrested by the Swedish Police at the border. In police interrogation Sherzad says that he stabbed her because of her relationship with somebody else, i.e. Dr Said Rahamani.
Dr Said, one of the main characters of the novel, a man who is a writer and university lecturer, is the narrator of the story. He tells us about the process of writing this story which is based on his own observations and conversations with Halala and other involved characters. He reconstructs the details of the murder based on his own fantasy which relies on reality and his knowledge of Halala and Sherzad. Dr Said, alongside the details of Halala's murder, sheds a light on the writing of the story and his own role on it.
Like Nahayee's other novels the question of Kurdish identity also occupies a central role in the dialogues between the main characters of this novel. The idea of "country" in this novel is also vague. The country has been referred to as "the country of stone" or "the country of rain" (p. 7). When the conflicts between Halala and Sherzad develop and the relatives of Halala have arrived in their home to help them to solve their problem, a hot discussion between them is about the land of the Kurds. Sherzad insists on the fact that he wants to go back to his "country" together with his daughter, Arazu, in order to bring her up in his own country. Sherzad insists on saying that "I will return to my country and take my daughter with me" (p. 37). Majid, Halala's brother, hearing this, raises a question as a sign of protest: "Where is our country?" (p. 39). Sherzad in a sarcastic way replies: "You are our big brother Majid. I am asking you where is our country? Sweden? Iran? Kurdistan? Which one?" (p. 39) Hearing that Majid argues that he cannot go back to his country because he will be arrested, Sherzad asks: "Which country? Iran?" Majid replies: "Yes, Iranian Kurdistan." Sherzad goes on: "Ok! Why do not you return to Iraqi Kurdistan? Is not it Kurdistan too? Do not your parents and friends still live there?" Karwan, Halala's brother, asserts: "Shall we go back to this war and conflict?" (p. 40) While these Kurdish characters dispute the whereabouts of their countries, for a non-Kurdish character, an Iranian man, Iraj, who lives in Sweden and wants to write a book on the History of Kurdistan after the Iranian Revolution, Kurdistan is a part of his country, i.e. Iran (p. 212).
This vague "country" is what had been recommended to Halala and her siblings by their father on the day they were leaving it:
Do not forget that you are from this country and you are my children. You are the children of somebody who has devoted whole his life to this country and its people. Somebody who has tolerated prison, torture and exile because of this country. [?] Wherever in this world you are, whatever country you will live in, you must know that you are from this country and you must be proud of everything in this country. You are not supposed to forget your country" (p. 70).
Regarding people's different desires and purposes, Smith argues that some "people find meaning from their sense of belonging to a particular group or community - be it a family, tribe, profession, trade, tradition, church, class, nation or whatever - with its own history and way of life. Subtract this sense of participating in or belonging to a reality beyond their own, and you take away what is most precious, or most highly valued, in these people's lives." 35 In Mirza Hama Rashid's case this sense of belonging is towards an imaginary homeland without having a specified juridico-political definition.
Sometimes the idea of country refers to one's city. In this case even if you live in "Kurdistan", you do not feel at home. When Sa'adat lives in Sulaymaniya and hears that her husband has married to another woman in her absence gets disappointed and says that she will go back to her own city and country (p. 101). In the whole story there is no reference that where this country is. It is only through the context of the story that we realise that it is somewhere in Iranian Kurdistan. Halala, rejecting Sherzad's idea on his false patriotism and accusing the others for not having any connection to their country, maintains that: "Yes, we are cowards. I do not know about them [her relatives] ? It is not my business. But I am a coward. I am a liar. I am not a patriot. In fact my country is here. Sweden. I am a Swedish citizen and my child is born here and she belongs to here. Thus I and my child will live here as Swedish citizens. For ever" (p. 41). On one occasion she gets so angry and asserts that: "I and Arazu do not go back not only for one or two months but even for one day or one hour. For our summer holiday we go to Australia, Romania, Egypt, Afghanistan ? I do not know we will go every where except for that destroyed place that you call it country." (p. 42)
It is not only the location of the country, but also the whereabouts of its inhabitants that are disputed. It is not clear who can be considered as a "Kurd". When Halala tells Sherzad that she has an Iranian teacher at the university and she wants Sherzad to know him, Sherzad asks if he is 'Ajam', i.e. not a Kurd? Halala answers that he is Kurd from Kirmashan. Sherzad's immediate reaction is: "Then he is a Shiite" (123). Dr Said, the teacher from Kirmashan, talks in his dialect to Halala and Sherzad. But they talk to him in Persian being afraid that he perhaps does not understand their Kurdish (p. 127). Sherzad does not consider Dr Said's language as Kurdish (p. 211).
Probably Halala's complains when he fights with Sherzad and cries is a good example of the crisis of identity that she suffers from. "My God where am I? Who am I? How have I lived? How do I live?" (p. 30). Rushdie in his introductory words to his interview with Edward Said quotes a passage from Said's After the Last Sky where Said referring to the Palestinian identity says, 'When did we become a people? When did we stop being one? Or are we in the process of becoming one? What do those big questions have to do with our intimate relationships with each other and with others?' 36 Halala's complains are good signs of not belonging to with their own country, rather a people "in the process of becoming one."
The idea of country is even a matter of dispute between the father and the son whose ideological persuasions are different from his father's. Mirza Hama Rashid complains about his son's political affiliation and condemns him that he is following some non-Kurdish communists. He says to him: "You who want to take weapon and scarify yourself, why do not you do it for your own country, your own nation and people?" (p. 109)
The aimed national identity by the Iranian central governments is against the desire of being a Kurd. There is a clear contest in what is directed by the governments and what is wished by the Kurds. Like all her compatriots Halala at the time of her childhood and school years has been the subject of an exercise in identity making that was far from her Kurdish identity. In the years before the Revolution she used to sing the anthem of "we are the children of this country ?" After the Revolution the anthem becomes an Arabic one (p. 45).
Halala's identity from a gender perspective is also subject to shift. After the father's release from prison Halala is treated by him as a boy. She has a very close relationship with her father and, accepting her father's advice and expectations, is treated like a boy rather than a girl. She wears clothes like the boys and plays with them. Only after falling in love with Braymok she changes her style and tries to dress and act like a girl.
The issue of adjustment to the new society, Sweden, is different in the case of the characters of Halala. While some of the refugees are successful in adjusting themselves, some of them fail to do that. Sherzad has difficulties to adjust himself to the new social and cultural conditions in Sweden. In fact, he is only physically present in Sweden and he mentally practices his previous social norms. Instead of acquiring the needed linguistic and professional skills in the new environment he mainly mingles with his countrymen who usually gather in a barber opened by one of Sherzad's acquaintances. Contrary to Sherzad who typically represents a tendency among the first generation of the Kurdish refugees in Sweden, Dr Said tries to adjust himself to the new environment through making a good balance between his cultural backgrounds and the new cultural aspects in the host country. In both cases the earlier elements of identity are depicted in conflict with the new ones. The success or failure of the refugees basically depends on their degree of adjustment to the new society and their balanced distance from the previous culture. Sherzad complains about the fact that Halala has changed a lot and now because of her economic independence and a new lifestyle in Sweden she has forgotten her Kurdish traditions (p. 73). Halala in her turn believes that Sherzad is a weak man and lacks any talent. She says that Sherzad is somebody who cannot progress but at the same time is afraid of remaining behind (p. 80). Halala has distanced herself from Kurdish culture and thinks that the reason behind Kurdish backwardness is its culture. This is what makes Sherzad crazy and aggressive towards Halala (p. 82). Majid criticises the Kurdish culture and the fact that killing of Halala by Sherzad is rooted in Kurdish culture which even after the divorce does not leave a woman in peace, but under the continuous persecution of the ex-husband (p. 311). When Mirza hears the news he calls from Kurdistan to Majid and finds him guilty of not being able to protect his honour through looking after his sister. Mirza complains that this has resulted in destroying his honour (p. 304).
Living in exile destroys many previously accepted and established social norms. Displacement and leaving the cultural traditions and encountering the new cultural environment create a deep cultural conflict. The conflicts between Halala and Sherzad symbolize the main theme of the novel which is the conflict between modernity and tradition.
The dagger signifies a symbolic role in this story. We are told that once a group of thieves stole a collection of valuable things. When a group of the revolutionaries, including Mirza Hama Rashid, persecute the thieves they notice that they had taken the valuable items from the collection and have only left an old dagger behind themselves. We are not told what the other items were. Hama Rashid takes the dagger and later on carries it with himself. Some years later we find the dagger in Sweden. It is said that Hama Rashid had given the dagger to Sherzad while he was in Kurdistan. Sherzad treats the dagger as a memory form Hama Rashid. It is this dagger that is used for killing Halala. The dagger can be seen as a reference to the tribal anger and hate which later on victimise Halala as one who has distanced herself from the traditional way of life. When Halala is killed the Swedish media describes the dagger as a symbol that represents the Kurds and eastern culture. For Dr Said this is an orientalist approach which aims to demonise the "others" in order to justify its own "civilized" culture against the "savage" one.
The conflict between the generations also represents the conflict of the traditions and modernization. This conflict has been shown through the father's attitude towards Halala's relationship with Braymok. The difficulty of such a relationship has been symbolized by blood. In one occasion when Halala is in love with Braymok on her way to her job she notices a small flower. She stretches her hand to pick it, but before reaching the flower her hand faces a thorn which injures her finger and a drop of blood like the colour of the flower runs from her finger (p. 177). Braymok's destiny and his treatment by the party also show that there was a gap between the dominant political culture and the young generation. Braymok represents a pacific and romantic intellectual that instead of being affiliated with any weapon, instead deals with his flute and poetry.
Conclusion
In Nahayee's three published novels the question of identity has been clearly highlighted. In these novels the main protagonists do not feel as if they belong to a specified country. The vague idea of country or homeland causes a crisis of identity in the perception of the characters by themselves. Las, having fought for his country, ends up in exile and when he returns home after fifteen years, nobody, even his mother, welcomes his return. He has no option other than death. Mehraban, having returned from exile, finds his paternal home ruined, and tries to motivate his existence through digging up the past and writing down the unwritten stories of his countrymen. Halala, distancing herself from her traditional culture is murdered by her husband who acts under the pretence of preserving his honour and culture. The protagonists of Nahayee's novels do not belong anywhere. They do not feel at home either in their "homeland", or in "exile". These novels simply act as an allegory of nation, as has been asserted by Jameson regarding other third-world texts. "All third-world texts are necessarily, I want to argue, allegorical, and in a very specific way: they are to be read as what I will call national allegories, even when, or perhaps I should say, particularly when their forms develop out of predominantly western machineries of representation, such as the novel."37
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21 Rahimian states that the crisis of identity is the main theme of Guli Shoran. Rahimiyan, Mohammad (2000/1379), "Naqdi bar roman-e Gol-e Shoran" (A critic of Gol-e Shoran), Sirwan, Vol. 3, No. 15, p. 14. However, his approach towards the nature of this crisis of identity is too general to be able to map it specifically. For Rahimian (ibid.) this crisis originates from the conflict between the pre-modern and modern values at the time when the world enters a post-modern epoch. This way of clarifying the origins and reasons of the crisis of identity, regardless of its authenticity, can include almost all developing and even developed societies. Thus it is far from being able to explain the concrete crisis of Kurdish society that is by its primary character, even according to the events of Guli Shoran, a crisis of national identity. It is an identity that has been politically and socially deprived of the democratic right to represent itself.
22 Smith, H. Nicholas (2002), Charles Taylor: Meaning, Morals and modernity, Cambridge: Polity, p. 98.
23 Bourdieu, P. 'Rethinking the state: Genesis and Structure of the Bureaucratic Field', Sociological Theory, Vol. 12, No. 1 (pp. 1-18), p. 7.
24 Hobsbawm, Eric (1990), Nations and Nationalism since 1780, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 96.
25 One of the most humiliating actions to inflict upon against a Kurdish man, according to tradition, is to cut the crotch of his trousers ('nafokbrin). During the reign of Reza Shah, the government agents used to cut the crutch of Kurdish trousers in order to force the Kurds to abandon their traditional trousers and wear western-type trousers.
26 During the time of the Kurdish Republic in Mahabad there was a motto among the people that Stalin was the father of the Kurds.
27 Nishtiman, an important journal in formatting the nationalist discourse, was the organ of the J.K., i.e. the society for the revival of the Kurds.
28 Hall, Stuart and du Gay, Paul, op. cit. p. 4.
29 Smith, H. Nicholas, op. cit. p. 154.
30 In official discourse, the central government is usually referred to as the government, not the Kurdistan Republic in Mahabad.
31 Here, the idea of land is not clear. What does Las really mean by his 'wiļat' (land)? Is it the official land, Iran, which is never referred to in the whole story? Is it his city where he is born? The reaction of both Iraqi and Iranian agents towards Las shows that he is considered to be a 'traitor' of these lands.
32 Nahayee, Ata, Balndakani Dam Ba (Birds with the Wind), Sanandaj: Jiyar, 2002.
33 Rushdie, Salman (1991) Imaginary Homelands, Essays and Criticism 1981-1991, London: Granta Books, pp.13-14.
34 Quoted in De Cillia, Rudolf, et al, op. cit. p. 155.
35 Smith, H. Nicholas, op. cit. p. 4.
36 Rushdie, Salman, op. cit. p.167.
37 Jameson, Fredric (1986), "Third-World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism", Social Text, No. 15, (pp. 65-88), p. 69.