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Journal of Postcolonial Writing

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

Metin Yüksel

To cite this article: Metin Yüksel (2015) Solidarity without borders: The poetic tributes toPaul Robeson of Goran and Cegerxwîn, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 51:5, 556-573, DOI:10.1080/17449855.2015.1065287

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2015.1065287

Published online: 11 Aug 2015.

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

Metin Yüksel*

Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

This article examines the tributes to Paul Robeson made by the two most prominent20th-century Kurdish poets, Abdulla Goran and Cegerxwîn, who wrote in the twomain dialects of the Kurdish language: Sorani and Kurmanji. It highlights thehumanist, anti-racist and anti-colonial social and political engagement of Goran andCegerxwîn as reflected in their poetry, and suggests how this can be read in thecontext of postcolonial writing and theory. It also aims to contribute more generallyto the study of progressive solidarity discourses during the Cold War period asreflected in literary works. After a brief review of the historical origins and develop-ment of Kurdish nationalism, the article examines the literary and political careersof 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, asinstances of their radical humanist, anti-racist and anti-colonial political stance, andin terms of their solidarity with the African American singer, actor and civil rightsactivist.

Keywords: Cegerxwîn; Abdulla Goran; Paul Robeson; Kurdish poetry; solidarity;anti-racism

Introduction

This article analyzes and explores the political and cultural contexts of two poems bythe most prominent Kurdish poets of the 20th century, namely Abdulla Goran andCegerxwîn. In part, it builds on earlier accounts by this author of Cegerxwîn’s poetryas the “poetics and politics of awakening” (Yüksel 2011, 215–225; Yüksel 2014,536–553). “Bangêk bo Pol Ropsin”1 (A Call for Paul Robeson) by Goran and “HevalPol Robson” (Comrade Paul Robeson) by Cegerxwîn, written in the poets’ vernacularKurdish dialects and in solidarity with the African American singer, actor and civilrights activist Paul Robeson, deserve close attention for three main reasons. The first isthat, reflecting as they do a humanist, anti-racist and anti-colonial political engagement,these poems can be fruitfully explored through the framework of postcolonial studies.In this context, the article brings the field of Kurdish studies into conversation with“the emerging field of transnational African American studies” (Zaborowska 2009,xxi), and its title is inspired by Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s study of transnationalinfluences, Feminism Without Borders (Mohanty 2003).

Second, this article is a contribution to the study of progressive solidarity discoursesdisseminated through literary works during the Cold War period. Recently, CedricTolliver (2014) has explored various “alternative solidarities and unrealized prospects

*Email: metinyuksel@hacettepe.edu.tr

© 2015 Taylor & Francis

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that proliferated during the Cold War” (382), while Julie-Françoise Tolliver (2014) hasexamined a 1966 play written by Aimé Césaire in memory of the first prime ministerof the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba, as a “gesture [of] transnational anti-colonial solidarity” (398). The activities in China of the African American civil rightsleader Robert Williams have been documented by Beth Hinderliter (2014), and MahaNassar (2014) has demonstrated “how Palestinian activists and intellectuals in Israelarticulated their solidarity with Afro-Asian liberation struggles” (75). Other studies,notably by Sapire (2009) and Thörn (2006), have focused on the South Africandimension of international political solidarity during the Cold War. By uncovering twoKurdish poems, this study thus aims to contribute to existing studies on progressivetransnational solidarity discourses in the 1950s.

Third, it is significant that, in allying themselves with the oppressed peoples of theworld, Goran and Cegerxwîn – like Robeson – looked to the Soviet Union as theally of dominated peoples around the world during the Cold War period. Goran andCegerxwîn praised Lenin and Stalin, and saw the Soviet Union as the only crediblerival to the European states, with their history of colonization, and the US. Within thispolitical context, both poets were also aware of the poetry and struggle of the interna-tionally renowned Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet (1902–63), who fled Turkey for theSoviet Union in 1951.

The article first presents a brief review of the historical origins and development ofKurdish nationalism from the turn of the century through the 1950s, and follows thiswith an overview of the literary and political careers of Goran and Cegerxwîn. It thenturns to the political struggle of Paul Robeson and its relevance to the discussion of thetwo Kurdish poets. In this context, the radical political criticism voiced by Robeson,his view of the universality of the oppression and struggles of all oppressed peoples,and his support of the Soviet Union (and the criticism he has received for this support)are explored. Finally, “Bangêk bo Pol Ropsin” and “Heval Pol Robson” are analysedas examples of Kurdish postcolonial poetry, voicing a radical humanist, anti-racist andanti-colonial political stance, as instances of Kurdish liberationist rhetoric in solidaritywith oppressed peoples around the world.

Kurdish nationalism

While it is not practicable to provide here a detailed history of Kurdish nationalism(full accounts can be found in Jwaideh [1963], Olson [1989], van Bruinessen [1992]and Celîl [1998]), it should be noted that its origins are generally traced back to thelate 19th century. Djene Rhys Bajalan (2013) has pointed out that poetry and madrasas(seminaries) were important cultural sites for the spread of nationalist ideas:

Hacî Qadirê Koyî (1817–97), a product of the madrassas [sic] of southern Kurdistan,authored poetry with an ardently modernist and nationalistic message, imploring Kurds totake pride in their language, seek education and modern science and, above all, throw offthe foreign yoke. (806)

Hamit Bozarslan (2002) also stresses the importance of the written word, demonstratingthat, while the earliest signs of Kurdish nationalism can be found in the SheikhUbeydullah Revolt of 1880, its written legacy began with the Ottoman-Kurdishnewspaper Kurdistan, that appeared between 1898 and 1902, first in Cairo and subse-quently in various European cities (841). Kurdish journals and associations, whichflourished particularly after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, promoted the study ofKurdish language, culture and literature (Klein 2000).

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Following the end of World War I, the era of dynasties was replaced with that ofnation states as “the legitimate international norm” (Anderson 2006, 113). However,Kurds living in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria were to “constitute the largest non-statenation in the world” (Blum and Hassanpour 1996, 325). The Turkish sociologist İsmailBeşikçi argues that the Kurds and their land have been colonized by four nation statesand he was jailed for his ideas for about 17 years in Turkey (for an analysis ofBeşikçi’s contributions, see van Bruinessen 2003–04 [2005]). The historical develop-ment of Kurdish nationalism is closely linked to the concept of rebellion. Although aseries of armed revolts was staged to secure some form of self-rule, ranging fromautonomy to independence, such objectives did not materialize. In the “timeline ofKurdish revolts” (Chatty 2010, 265), three particular moments and figures occupyan important place: the Sheikh Said Rebellion in 1925, the Mahabad Kurdish Republicin Iran under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad (to whom Cegerxwîn was to write anelegy) in 1945–46 (Vali 2011) and Mullah Mustafa Barzani’s revolt in Iraq during1943–45 and 1961–75 (Sluglett 2015).

Compelled by the failure of the Kurdish nationalist movements through the 1950sto attain independence for the Kurds, radical poets such as Goran and Cegerxwînengaged in voicing Kurdish subjugation in their work. The fact that they express theresentment of the Kurdish people, which emanated from their not being recognized asa people with dignity, makes their writings amenable to interpretation as a form ofpostcolonial writing, engaged in a critical analysis of the continuing effects of colonialdomination. For, as Elleke Boehmer (2005) points out, “Rather than simply being thewriting which ‘came after’ empire, postcolonial literature is [ … ] that which criticallyor subversively scrutinizes the colonial relationship. It is writing that sets out in oneway or another to resist colonialist perspectives” (3).

It is, in particular, the nationalist outlook of the poetry of Goran and Cegerxwîn thatmakes it recognizable as postcolonial writing. As Boehmer notes:

Postcolonial writing [ … ] is deeply marked by experiences of cultural exclusion anddivision under empire. Especially in its early stages it is also often a nationalist writing.Building on this, postcoloniality can be defined as that condition in which colonized peo-ples seek to take their place, forcibly or otherwise, as historical agents in an increasinglyglobalized world. (2005, 3)

Both Goran and Cegerxwîn reclaim such literary, political and historical agency for theKurdish people in their poetry. In Cegerxwîn’s work, for instance, a heroic and civi-lized Kurdish history is imagined. Within the framework of postcolonial modes of read-ing, their poetry stands out particularly for its promotion of the Kurdish language.Cegerxwîn, writing in Kurmanji Kurdish (the northern Kurdish dialect spoken by thelargest number of Kurds mostly residing in Turkey, and banned and criminalized inTurkey at that time), turned especially to Kurdish oral poetry, which he collected in histravels in Kurdish regions (Hitchins 2012b; for more on the importance of oral culturesin postcolonial cultural studies, see Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin [1998, 165–167]).

Through their political and literary careers, both Goran and Cegerxwîn aimed tomake Kurdish society, culture and politics more visible, allying themselves with theradical movements of their times to voice Kurdish national demands. It is within thiscontext that one should approach their support for the Soviet Union, for they were farfrom alone. Aimé Césaire (2000) also viewed the Soviet Union as a model of “the fra-ternity of olden days” (52). When the Soviet Union developed a strategy of providingaid for underdeveloped countries during the 1950s and 1960s (Guan‐Fu 1983; West

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2012), the recipients responded positively. Frantz Fanon, in Toward the AfricanRevolution, suggests the context within which the liberationist concerns of individualslike Goran and Cegerxwîn might result in support for the Soviet Union: “For colonialpeoples enslaved by Western nations, the Communist countries are the only ones thathave on all occasions taken their defense. [ … ] The colonial peoples are notparticularly communistic, but they are irreducibly anti-colonialist” (1967b, 94).

Indeed, the reason Cegerxwîn broke with the Communists in Syria in 1957 was that“he had made the emancipation of his people his chief goal” (Hitchins 2012b). In hismemoirs, Cegerxwîn depicts the 1925 Revolt as a national liberation movement andadds that it also caught international attention, such as that of Jawaharlal Nehru(Cegerxwîn 2003, 164). On the same page, his reference to national liberationmovements worldwide is convincing evidence of his liberationist mindset. As HamitBozarslan indicated in a personal communication in September 2014:

In the 1950s and 1960s (and partly also 1970s) there was not only a “tri-continental”(solidarity among African, Asian and Latin American peoples) but also a communicatingworld of the oppressed. The Kurds, for instance, were absolutely aware of each stage ofthe Algerian War of Independence. (See also Bozarslan 2008)

Thus the poetic and political careers of both Goran and Cegerxwîn can productively beplaced within the historical and political context of anti-colonial national liberationmovements (for more on national liberation movements, see Young [2001, 161–166]).

Goran and Cegerxwîn

Born in the city of Halabja in northeastern Iraq, Goran studied at the state pedagogicalinstitute in Kerkuk and became a teacher in his native city (Hitchins 2012a, para. 1;see also Kurdo 2010, 383–386). As Keith Hitchins notes: “In the 1930s he becameactive in radical political and social causes, a militancy that led to frequent arrests andimprisonments until the overthrow of the monarchy in Iraq in 1958” (para. 1; see alsoHitchins 1993). Orit Bashkin (2009) points out that “He was affiliated with the ICP[Iraqi Communist Party] and therefore arrested, tortured and jailed” (185). Indeed, sev-eral of his poems have prison as their subject (Goran 2005, 201, 206–207). “As amember of the Iraqi Committee of peace and solidarity he often traveled to the formerSoviet Union” (Kurdish Aspect 2015, para. 2) and while there he met with the Kurdishintelligentsia.2 Goran also wrote a poem titled “Moskoy Ciwan” (Beautiful Moscow;Goran 2005, 226). He became a lecturer at the Department of Kurdish Language andLiterature at the University of Baghdad in 1960 (Kurdish Aspect 2015, para. 2), andpassed away in 1962.

Keith Hitchins sees the poet’s contribution to the modernization of Kurdishliterature as one of his most important achievements:

Goran made signal contributions to the development of modern Kurdish poetry. Bycombining the traditions of classical and folk verses with the spirit and techniques of con-temporary lyricism, he endowed Kurdish poetry with new forms and a diversified subjectmatter. (2012a, para. 1; for an analysis of the poetic form in Goran’s poetry, see Ahmed[2012])

Goran was also a significant figure in the flourishing of the modern Kurdish press inthe early 1950s, turning the weekly journal Jîn (Life) “from a cultural journal into amilitant voice of the poor in Kurdish society” (Hitchins 2012a). He translated bothprose and poetry from English, French, Persian and Turkish into Kurdish (Hitchins

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2012a), and among these translations are renderings of Nazım Hikmet’s poetry (Goran2005, 344–347, 377–380).

Goran’s literary career took shape in Iraqi Kurdistan, where Sorani, the southerndialect of the Kurdish language, flourished through broadcasting, education and thepress. Joyce Blau (2009) observes that the province of Mosul was attached to the newIraqi state, where Kurdish was introduced to replace Turkish in administration andPersian in personal correspondence. She adds:

The book Kitebi awalamin qirā’ati kurdi (First Kurdish Reader), written for the Kurdishschools of Sulaimaniya, was published in Baghdad in 1920. With the beginning of thedevelopment of the Kurdish press at that time, the study of the Kurdish language andliterature in Iraq expanded rapidly. (Para. 10)

Cegerxwîn (Şêxmûs Hesen) was born in 1903 into a poor peasant family in a village inthe present-day province of Mardin, on the borders of Turkey and Syria.3 Cegerxwîn isa pseudonym, meaning “bleeding heart”. As Hitchins indicates, he adopted this pseudo-nym after the Sheikh Said Rebellion, as he was deeply moved by these experiences(Hitchins 2012b). Indeed, it was also after the Sheikh Said Rebellion that he began towrite in Kurdish (Cegerxwîn 2008a, 279). He was educated in madrasas in Kurdishregions, and also traveled to Iraq and Iran for his studies (Cegerxwîn 2008a, 279;2011, 315–317). He notes that during his education he became interested in poetrywritten by Kurdish classical poets (Cegerxwîn 1983). From the 1930s on, he stoppedpreaching as a mullah (prayer leader in a village). He became actively engaged in Kur-dish politics in Syria, and founded Kurdish cultural and political associations there,before becoming involved with the Communist Party of Syria in 1949 and, by implica-tion, international Communism: his support of the Soviet Union’s campaign againstwestern colonialism led to several arrests, the first in 1949 (Hitchins 2012b). His poem“Sîh û Sê Roj di Zindanê” (Thirty Three Days in Jail; Cegerxwîn 2008b, 133–136)depicts the torture he suffered in prison. After the July 1958 Revolution in Iraq, whichhe praises in his poem “Çardehê Temûz” (July 14; Cegerxwîn 2011, 29) in a mannersimilar to Goran’s poem with the same title (Goran 2005, 310), he taught Kurdish lan-guage and literature at the University of Baghdad from 1958 to 1963 (Hitchins 2012b).In his memoirs, he mentions Goran as one of his colleagues in Baghdad (Cegerxwîn2003, 364). He settled in Stockholm in 1979 and died there in 1984.

Blum and Hassanpour (1996) regard Cegerxwîn as “the most important Kurmanjipoet of this century” (334). Published in Damascus and Beirut in 1945 and 1954, hisfirst two collections were banned in Turkey in 1946 and 1955 respectively.4 His firstcollection was published by Celadet Bedirkhan among the Hawar Library, and like therest of his work is written in clear and simple language. Since he was influenced byKurdish classical poetry in his madrasa education, his poetry was recited and circulatedby madrasa students and teachers (Cegerxwîn 1983). Furthermore, many of his poems,including “Heval Pol Robson”, were set to music by the well-known Kurdish singerŞivan Perwer. These two modes of transmission (madrasa instruction and popularmusic) contributed to the spread of radical social and political ideas in Kurdish society.As Hitchins convincingly argues, his work is always socially engaged: “he takes sides,always favoring the poor and downtrodden over the rich and powerful, but his lan-guage is also nurturing and comforting, as he freely offers hope and encouragement tohis fellow Kurds” (2012b). In a manner similar to Robeson’s approach to the struggleof African Americans, Cegerxwîn sees the situation of the Kurds as a part of a com-mon struggle against oppression. Moreover, like Robeson, he also supports the Soviet

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Union, perceiving “an international dimension to the Kurds’ struggle, as he condemnedBritish and American imperialism and praised the Soviet Union as the protector ofoppressed peoples” (Hitchins 2012b).

Cegerxwîn’s political and literary career was shaped in Syria under the French man-date. Syria was home to Kurdish nationalist activism, particularly in the period beforethe French withdrawal. Kurdish cultural developments, led by the Bedirkhan brothers,Celadet and Kamiran, were also centered in Damascus and Beirut. The brotherspublished the Kurdish and Kurdish-French journals Hawar, Ronahî, Stêr and Roja Nû/Le Jour Nouveau, and developed the modern Kurdish-Latin alphabet (Gorgas 2014;Tejel 2006, 2009). Around this time, Cegerxwîn too was based in Syria, working inclose interaction with Celadet Bedirkhan, and his poetry first appeared in Hawar. Hewrote two poems praising the Kurdish-French journal Hawar (2008a, 147, 150–151)and another one praising Celadet (Cegerxwîn 2008a, 148–149). One can determine thecollaboration between the two from his interview with Kendal Nezan, where he talksabout how Celadet guided him about the style in poetry (Cegerxwîn 1983). Goran alsopraises Hawar’s editor Celadet Bedirkhan in his poem “Îlhamî Hawar” (The Inspirationof Hawar), which appeared in Hawar itself (Goran 2005, 151).5

Paul Robeson

What, then, made both Goran and Cegerxwîn view Paul Robeson as someone whocould give voice to the oppression of the Kurds? The son of a runaway slave and aworld-renowned African American actor, musician and civil rights activist, Robeson(1898–1976) stands as one of the most prominent personalities in 20th-century AfricanAmerican art, culture, politics and history (Dorinson 2002, 7; von Blum 1999, 100;Current 1976, 306).6 A radical political critic (Prashad 1997, 42; Weaver 1973–74, 28),Robeson believed that “American imperialism [was] the main enemy of liberationefforts” (Weaver 1973–74, 28). Since he not only engaged in the defense of the rightsof African Americans and workers in the United States, but also of oppressed peoplesaround the world, he has been viewed as “an eloquent spokesman for oppressed peopleeverywhere” (Osman 1979, 39). In the polarized Cold War context, Robeson saw theSoviet Union as the supporter of the oppressed. As Acklyn R. Lynch (1976) points out,Robeson “always remained the life-long friend of the Soviet Union, China, andprogressive people around the world, and an implacable enemy of fascism and racism”(231). Robeson’s support of Stalin has been a controversial topic. The AfricanAmerican writer James Baldwin, for instance, remarked that Robeson “miss[ed] thepoint of his own critique” (quoted in Finger 1998). In Bourne’s (1999) documentary ofPaul Robeson, Paul Robeson Jr. and Robeson’s biographer Martin Duberman highlightanother important point. During his visit to the Soviet Union, Robeson became awareof the purge of Jewish intellectuals, including his friend Isaac Fefer, who, thoughimprisoned, was brought to meet him. Fefer made it clear to Robeson that he feared hewould be killed – and he was indeed killed three years later. Martin Duberman notes inthe same documentary that shortly after this meeting with Fefer, in his concert Robesonsings the song of the Warsaw ghetto resistance (Bourne 1999; for Fefer’s courttestimony, see Rubenstein and Naumov [2001, 78–109]). The informants in the docu-mentary imply that this performance was an act of solidarity with his friend Fefer andother persecuted Jewish intellectuals. However, upon his return to the United States,the informants note, Robeson denied the purge of Jewish intellectuals in the StalinistSoviet Union. Paul Robeson Jr. notes that his father’s was “a world of relative evils”

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(Bourne 1999). It seems therefore important to keep in mind his performance of thesong of the Warsaw ghetto resistance in the Soviet Union, at a time when “Stalin’ssecret pogrom” was in effect.

Robeson was monitored from the early 1940s by the FBI (Federal Bureau ofInvestigation), and his US passport was seized from 1951 until 1958 (Perucci 2012, 1),since the State Department considered that “Paul Robeson’s travel abroad would becontrary to the best interests of the United States” (Turell 1979). The ban on his travelabroad caused a huge reaction from his supporters all around the world. A campaigncalled “Let Paul Robeson Sing” was started in Manchester in 1955 and spread acrossBritain (Goodman 2013, xiii). Similar protests were also seen in other countries such asCanada (MacDowell 2003).

There was a close connection between Robeson’s politics and his artistic output; hisradical political stance was reflected in his approach to his musical performances. AsGoodman (2013) points out, his career as an artist was closely tied to his social andpolitical engagement:

As Robeson developed politically, his art, too, changed. He studied a host of languages sothat he could sing folk songs in their original tongues, to speak directly to the people. Hehad already discovered Africa, its history, culture and political struggles, for himself, andnow learned several African languages, in order to incorporate African folk songs into hisconcert repertoire. (9–10)

Having traveled to about 25 countries to perform (Davis 1998, 209–215), Robesonaddressed the struggles of people who were experiencing discrimination, marginaliza-tion and subordination as a result of their ethnic, national, racial and/or class standing.In this context, Robeson addressed the struggles of “Welsh miners, Russian peasants,Czech freedom fighters, Irish revolutionaries, Jewish concentration camp prisoners, andmany more” (von Blum 2008, 73). Robeson’s social and political engagement throughhis art finds unequivocal expression in his following words, engraved on his grave-stone: “The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. Ihad no alternative” (Swindall 2013, 83).

Robeson’s international prestige attracted the attention and appreciation of radicalpoets and writers. Two sources on Robeson’s life and legacy list a number of poets andwriters who wrote tributes to him in poetry and prose (Davis 1998, 303–314;Freedomways 1978, 257–317). Pablo Neruda and Nazım Hikmet are among the poetslisted. However, some other tributes to Robeson from the Middle East are not oftenmentioned. For instance, the Iraqi Jewish writer and poet Sasson Somekh dedicated apoem to Robeson in 1954 that “draws an analogy between the oppression of Americanblacks and oppression of Iraqi-Jews in Israel” (Snir 2006, 105). Abdulla Goran andCegerxwîn also wrote poems in tribute to Robeson, which seem to have escaped theattention of existing published sources (Davis 1998, 303–314; Freedomways 1978,257–317).

“Bangêk bo Pol Ropsin” and “Heval Pol Robson”

Goran’s tribute to Robeson was written in 1954. Compared to Cegerxwîn’s longerpoem (133 lines), Goran’s is brief, at 28 lines. It begins by addressing Robeson as thepeace-loving nightingale (bulbulî aştîxwazî). Alarmed by Robeson’s singing, certainidiots are trying to prevent him from performing, by breaking his musical instrumentsand cutting off his wings:

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They do not allow you to come [and] singFor the peoples of the East [and] raise the fire of the struggleThe enlightened side of our East is already familiar with youEven the dark side [of the East] is awake and its heart is with youWe are waiting [for the time] for you to break the cageTo show your voice as your passport at borders.

Robeson’s voice and songs are seen as his passport. His “sweet voice”, that sings forpeace and life, brings different races all together:

Sing so that the White and the Yellow alongside the BlackListen to you as one single heart and one single bodyIn the spirit of unity, the White and the Yellow and the BlackAre eager to hear your songs Paul Robeson!

Goran ends his poem by pointing out that not only are the people of Kurdistan awareof Robeson’s voice and songs, but they also view him as one of their own:

Paul Robeson! Oh, Paul Robeson! Oh, Paul Robeson!The hero of peace! The nightingale of singingEven the remote and isolated valley of KurdistanIs familiar with your name and voiceMy seven-year old son knows youWhen he mentions your name, [it is] as if he talks about an uncle in the neighborhood

Cegerxwîn’s poem “Heval Pol Robson” appeared in his second collection, first pub-lished in 1954 (Cegerxwîn 2008b, 97–101). It is worth emphasizing that this poem wasset to music by the well-known Kurdish singer Şivan Perwer (Perwer [1976] 2009). Itwas thus through Perwer’s performance that Paul Robeson and his political strugglebecame widely known among the Kurds. As Hassanpour and Blum point out,

[Perwer’s] music contributed to the upsurge of nationalist and leftist cultural and politicalmovements in the 1970s. [ … ] He is well known for his political songs, which emphasizethe struggle of workers and peasants and the national liberation movements of the Kurds.(2001, 477)

“Heval Pol Robson” is an extensive poem, composed of seven sections, each of whichbegins with the call of “Ey heval Robson” (Oh, Comrade Robeson). In their entirety,these seven sections are arranged as follows:

(1) Greeting Robeson, “the singer7 of the world” and his struggle(2) Laying out the universal oppression at the hands of capitalists and fascists(3) The solution found in the guidance and leadership of Marx, Engels, Lenin,

Stalin and the Soviet Union(4) The awakening of the wretched and their fight for freedom and equality(5–6–7) Cegerxwîn’s dream of a world without oppression, subordination and

exploitation.

The poem begins with Cegerxwîn’s greeting of Robeson and presentation of himand his struggle. He praises Robeson’s efforts, since they are “for human beings”. ForCegerxwîn, Robeson’s activism is encouraging and empowering:8

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Oh comrade Robeson, the singer of the worldThe supporter of peace, the wise and human beingThe hero and the guide [rênas], the enemy of DallasOver waters, over mountainsYour black color reaches our eyesYour beautiful voice well reaches our earsThis work of yours gives us knowledge/talent

In a later line he notes that “Dallas” and McCarthy are fearful of the black awaken-ing. Yet it is not only American politicians that Cegerxwîn criticizes – nor is it onlyRobeson with whom Cegerxwîn shows his solidarity. Reflecting the atmosphere of histimes, he also criticizes the Turkish state, an ally of the US during the Cold War, whilehis spirit of comradeship is also reflected in his solidarity with the internationallyrenowned Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet, who had been imprisoned in Turkey between1938 and 1950. The International Institute of Social History records that “In 1949 aninternational campaign was started for [Hikmet’s] release, led by Tristan Tzara andLouis Aragon. A year later he was awarded a peace prize in absentia in Warsaw, whichhe shared with Paul Robeson and Pablo Neruda" (International Institute of SocialHistory, 2015). Around the same time that the US blacklisted Paul Robeson, its ally theTurkish state denaturalized Nazım Hikmet and banned his poetry in Turkey (seeAppendices 1 and 2). Cegerxwîn’s solidarity with Nazım Hikmet is expressed in hispoem “Peymana Tirk û Pakistan” (The Treaty of Turkey and Pakistan). AddressingTurkish President Celal Bayar and Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Cegerxwîn asks:“Do you not ever hear Nazım’s cry?” (2008b, 106).

Following the poem’s greeting of Robeson as a black humanist fighting for peace,the second section points to the shared experience of oppression by different classes,nations and races throughout the world at the hands of fascist and oppressive orders:

Oh, comrade Robeson!Not only have Blacks been enslavedWe are white but we, too, have been miserablePoor, wretched, oppressed, unfortunate [çarereş]Hungry and naked, all poor and illWhat is our sin? Neither a sin nor a reasonThese Kurds and Arabs have been enslavedNegros and Indians, we all human beingsWho left us so wretched?

The lexical field of the words reben, belengaz, perîşan (poor, wretched, miserable)bindest (enslaved), zordestî (oppression), zorkerî (the state of being an oppressor), dîl(slave), jar (poor) kole (slave), koletî (slavery) and koledar (slave owner) in both thefirst collection (Cegerxwîn 2008a, 17, 18, 19, 22–23, 35, 45, 49, 60, 63–64, 66–68, 69,74, 80–81, 89–98, 122, 126, 129–130, 137, 166–167, 170, 173–174, 178–180, 184,185–187, 208) and the second (Cegerxwîn 2008b, 19–21, 22–23, 26, 29–30, 31–32,33–34, 35, 37, 38, 41–42, 47–48, 51–52, 56, 57, 58–59, 60, 63, 66, 67, 68–69, 76–77,78–79, 93, 102, 121–132, 163–164, 165, 166, 173, 176, 177–178, 181, 183, 185–186,195, 196–197, 198–199) points to the insistent preoccupation with oppressed classes ofpeople. Crucially, in a large number of his poems, Cegerxwîn criticizes local Kurdishtribal chieftains (axa) and religious leaders, called sheikhs, as oppressors in Kurdishsociety. Hence, he expresses his radical criticism not only against western imperialism– as he does in his tribute to Robeson – but also against the dominant classes in

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“traditional” Kurdish society, as in his highly critical poem “Destê Te Maç Nakim”(I do not kiss your hand; Yüksel 2014, 547–548). His several references to însan(human being) aim to highlight the equality of all humans, regardless of theirdifferences, and the brotherhood of all peoples (Cegerxwîn 2008b, 78–79, 105–107).The second section ends with the answer to the question “who left us so wretched?”: itwas “the fascist order of the pitiless enslavers and owners of capital and institutions”.

The third section underlines the solution to the oppression in the world and the gapbetween the powerful, privileged and rich, and the lower classes, poor and downtrod-den. The solution to the oppression prevalent in the world is provided by Marx, Engels,Lenin and Stalin. Like Robeson, who “publicly sent birthday greetings to Joseph Stalinin December of 1949” (Beeching 2002, 341), Cegerxwîn also wrote a poem for Stalin’s70th birthday, titled “Cejna Heftê Salê Stalîn” (The Feast of the 70th Birthday ofStalin; 2008b, 83). He also wrote a poem in praise of Stalin (2008b, 87–88), andanother one lamenting the dictator’s death (2008b, 109–110), and in fact numerouslines praising Stalin can be found throughout his work. Goran, on the other hand, didnot publish any poems praising Stalin, but dedicated two poems to Lenin: “RêgayLenîn” (Lenin’s Way) and “Yadiy Lenîn” (In Memory of Lenin) (2005, 227, 313). Healso wrote a poem extolling the city of Moscow, “Moskoy Ciwan” (Beautiful Moscow;2005, 226). His poem “Makartî” caricatures McCarthy (Goran 2005, 295).

The fourth section is devoted to the awakening of the oppressed, who rise up inarms against their oppressors. Cegerxwîn refers here to weapons, battles and war andto “killing enslavers”:

Oh comrade RobesonWorkers and farm laborers, farmers [cotar] have woken upThe poor and miserable have risen up togetherBy tanks and cannons, they are going to fight and war[ … ]They want freedom, independence, equalityThey are not running awayBut the enemy is scared, [and] running awayWhether Black or White, all the miserable have become friendsThey are killing enslavers, owners of villages, property owners

Cegerxwîn’s references to weapons and war are a recurring characteristic in many ofhis poems (2008a, 16–17, 44, 70–72, 79, 89–98, 123–124, 125, 126, 133, 134, 140,164; 2008b, 60, 66, 113–115, 116–120, 121–132, 142). Cegerxwîn implies that it isonly by going to war that Kurds and all the wretched can attain their rights. This refer-ence to violence again evokes Fanon’s (2004) comment that violence is the only meanswhereby colonized peoples can regain a dignity which has been seriously wounded bya colonialism that itself arrived at gunpoint: “At the individual level, violence is acleansing force. It rids the colonized of their inferiority complex, of their passive anddespairing attitude. It emboldens them, and restores their self-confidence” (51). Thisapproach to violence seems to be shared not only by Cegerxwîn, but also Robeson. Inthe case of Robeson, one could refer to the changes in the lyrics of “Old Man River”.In his performance in support of the Republican soldiers in the Spanish Civil War, hechanged the lyrics from: “I am tired of living and scared of dying” into “We must keepfighting until we are dying” (Turell 1979). Later, he modified it to “I must keep fight-ing till I am dying” (Robeson 2008). It could be argued, however, that neither Cegerx-wîn nor Robeson glorifies violence for militarist purposes, especially when one puts

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their references to violence alongside their constant references to, and support for,efforts towards peace. In a number of their poems, Goran and Cegerxwîn underlineaştî, haşitî, selam (peace), aştîxwaz (peace-lover), emphasize that they do not want şer,ceng (war) and criticize wars (Cegerxwîn 2008b, 65, 73–75, 80–82, 84, 85–86, 89–92,94–96, 103–104, 133–136, 181, 182; Goran 2005, 309, 311–312, 317).

Such enthusiasm for Soviet-led transnational peace and solidarity campaigns is,however, not unproblematic. Solidarity was undoubtedly a specifically left, interna-tionalist and liberationist strategy in the face of great power strategies in the Cold Warcontext. As such, it was not free from certain contradictions. From its support for theRepublicans in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) to “the campaign for ‘world peace’ inthe 1950s as well as support for the liberation movements in developing countries dur-ing the 1970s and 1980s”, Gleb J. Albert (2014) points out, “the Soviet Union occupiesa peculiar place in the history of transnational solidarity” (501). Soviet support for rev-olutionary internationalist solidarity was also used for Soviet strategic investment inglobal affairs. In other words, Soviet-led solidarity politics abroad served to distractinternational attention from the domestic systems of oppression. Moreover, as Alberteffectively demonstrates in studying the letters written by Soviet citizens applying tojoin the war in Spain, the solidarity campaigns were re-appropriated to “become physi-cally remote from persecution” at home (Albert 2014, 511). Put bluntly, neither revolu-tionary transnational solidarity nor its leadership by the Soviet Union is immune fromcriticism, precisely because both had internal contradictions as well as limitations. AsCharlotte Alston (2014) makes clear in her introduction to “Transnational Solidaritiesand the Politics of the Left, 1890–1990”, a special issue of the European Review ofHistory: Revue européenne d’histoire,

The contributions here treat solidarity as a sense of connection, of shared interests andaims, and they interrogate the limits of the concept. While activists often cast their effortsas a way of helping those who are unable to represent themselves, solidarity is not neces-sarily altruistic. It can be tactical where it seems that gains are to be made from a jointeffort, and it can be very personal. (448)

Therefore, the concept of solidarity also serves the immediate purpose of voicing thepersecution of the Kurdish people and, in this sense, it should not be seen as simplyaltruistic.

Having presented the sources of oppression in the world, and his suggested solu-tion, and having anticipated the awakening of the oppressed in the first four sections,Cegerxwîn devotes the final three sections to painting his picture of a happy world freeof oppression, exploitation and inequalities, where peace, equality and well-being pre-vail. In Cegerxwîn’s imagined world, there are no borders, no passports and, regardlessof whether they are white or black, all are brothers and sisters. In this happy imaginedworld, Cegerxwîn expects to hear Robeson sing the songs of freedom in his “beautifulvoice”. This world provides everyone with a life of dignity:

Oh comrade Robeson!This beautiful worldIs enough for everyone, be it White or BlackIt is necessary to pass it by smiles and happilyAffluent, dignified,All are kind [rind] with one anotherSo that nobody remains orphan, hungry and nakedNeither killing, nor war, nor screams, nor cries [ne qîr, ne gazî]

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Cegerxwîn frequently uses serbilind (dignified), serbilindî (dignity), serefraz/serfi-raz (dignified) and rûmet (reputation) (2008a, 20–21, 46, 58–59, 70–72, 89–98,104–105, 115, 119, 126, 128, 131–132, 136, 138–139, 159; 2008b 29–30, 38, 41–42,63, 64, 66, 67, 121–132, 163–164, 191). In parallel with Robeson’s repeated emphasison human dignity, his recurrent use of this Kurdish vocabulary reminds one of AiméCésaire’s invocation of humanist ideals in the context of (post)colonialism, as well asFanon (1967a). While Césaire highlights “colonialism as thingification”, Fanon ana-lyzes the lack of self-worth of colonized peoples as a result of the illnesses broughtabout by colonialism.

Conclusion

As the most famous Kurdish poets of the 20th century, writing in the two main Kurdishdialects, both Goran and Cegerxwîn were aware of the humanist and progressivepolitical struggles of their times. Addressing Paul Robeson and pointing to the oppres-sion of people of different races, classes and nations, both Kurdish poets provide anexample of solidarity with the “wretched of the earth”. Goran and Cegerxwîn connectthe African American civil rights struggle in the US with other oppressed peoples,including the Kurds. The humanist, anti-racist and anti-colonial tributes of Goran andCegerxwîn to Robeson demonstrate their global political horizons in solidarity with theoppressed peoples around the world. By addressing Robeson in their own vernacularKurdish dialects of Sorani and Kurmanji, Goran and Cegerxwîn introduced Robeson’spersonality and political struggle into the arena of Kurdish society, culture and politics.

Although Egypt was the only Middle Eastern country that Robeson visited (Davis1998, 209–215), he was fully aware of progressive-minded artists like himself from theMiddle East. Indeed, he is known to have performed poems by Nazım Hikmet, such as“The Little Dead Girl” (O Castendo 2009). We do not know to what extent Robesonwas informed about the Kurds, their persecution and the tributes to himself by Goranand Cegerxwîn. What would Robeson’s response have been to the acclamations ofGoran and Cegerxwîn? Based on his remarks in an interview, one can imagine that hewould embrace the Kurdish struggle as a part of “the common struggle of all oppressedpeople.” (Robeson 1958).

AcknowledgementsI am grateful for support of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, via its2219 postdoctoral fellowship, in the writing of this article at the University of Toronto in thesummer of 2014. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance provided by the AmericanResearch Institute in Turkey, the Honigberg Fellowship for Study in Paris, the Turkish PrimeMinistry Archives in Ankara and the Kurdish Institute in Paris. Professor Amir Hassanpour,Hamit Bozarslan, Ömer Faruk Yekdeş, Mezher Yüksel, Ariel Salzmann, Zozan Pehlivan, OritBashkin, Kamal Soleimani, Celîlê Celîl and the anonymous JPW reviewers provided invaluablehelp with specific details. A version of this article was delivered as a talk at Üsküdar University’sSymposium “Facing Orientalist Codes: Postcolonial Approaches” on 19 February 2015 inİstanbul.

Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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Notes1. 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 transliterationfrom Sorani follows Kurmanji, the northern dialect of the Kurdish language and written inthe Latin script.

2. The Soviet-educated scholar of modern Kurdish history, Professor Celîlê Celîl, mentions in apersonal communication that, together with some other Kurdish intellectuals in SovietArmenia, 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 ananalysis 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 currenthead 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 ChannelKURD1 in Paris for providing me with a copy of this interview.

4. The two documents from the Turkish Prime Ministry Republican Archives (the BCA – theArchives’ Turkish acronym), banning Cegerxwîn’s collections of poetry in Turkey are refer-enced 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 theTurkish President and the Cabinet. The original documents relating to this are also archivedin the BCA: Fon Kodu: 030. 18. 01. 02, Yer No: 29. 43. 13, 30/5/932. Moreover, CeladetBedirkhan’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’swritings, 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 intoEnglish 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 toEvdila Dirêj for explaining some Kurdish words in the poem.

Notes on contributor

Metin Yüksel is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and PublicAdministration at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. He received his PhD from the Univer-sity of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in 2011. Recently hehas been focusing on the 20th-century social and cultural history of Iran. His work has been pub-lished in International Journal of Turkish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, The Muslim Worldand Iranian Studies.

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Appendix 1. Turkish Official Decree Denaturalizing Nazım Hikmet, 1951

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Appendix 2. Ban on the Record of Nazım Hikmet’s Poetry in Turkey, 1965

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