The Role of French Intellectuals in the Development of Kurdish Studies and Kurdish Enlightenment

Abstract

The Renaissance and Reform movements that started in Italy in the 15th century affected society and culture from all sides and opened the way for a new era, also called The Enlightenment. The French Revolution in 1789, which was based on the ideas of the intellectual age, brought with it many new intellectual and social changes that affected the neighboring countries and the intellectuals of other peoples as well. Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire would became a meeting ground for the many intellectuals of the many identities. Moreover, with the wind of freedom, equality and fraternity, the ideas of French intellectuals were spreading and were discussed in the Ottoman capital. The last Ottoman period, that is, before the end of the Ottoman Empire, was a new beginning and a time of searching for a destiny for the people under the roof of the Empire. Among those identities, Kurds were represented and Kurdish intellectuals searched out the fate of their peoples at this time. After the First World War, they would tread down the new path they had discovered due to having made progress through mutual acquaintances with intellectuals from different nations. The meeting and acquaintance of French intellectuals with Celadet and Kamiran Bedirkhan in Damascus, the region under the rule of the French State, raised Kurdish intellectuality to another level, which resulted in the publication of Hawar, a literary magazine (1932 to 1935, then from 1941 to 1943). After Hawar, the situation of Kurds, Kurdish literature and Kurdish history gained strength. Through this contact and support studies on Kurds, Kurdish language and culture appeared. After Hawar, Ronahî, Stêr and Roja Nû (the latter one in Beirut) appeared, again thanks to such connections with their help and support. Without the help and support of the French authorities and French élite of that time, such a result would not have been possible. And altogether the way was also paved for the development of a Kurdish Enlightenment. The purpose of the present research paper is to explore the contacts of French intellectuals such as Roger Lescot, Pierre Rondot, and Thomas Bois with the Bedirkhani Brothers through reading the mentioned kurdish magazines and their works; and thus to discuss their role in the development of Kurdish studies and in the Kurdish Enlightenment in that time.