Dengbêj is a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

and/or a singer of the music genre Dengbêj. Dengbêjs are singing storytellers. There have been many terms to describe Dengbêjs throughout history, but today Dengbêj is the best known, and also several singing storytellers use Dengbêj as part of their own (artistic) name. Dengbêjs are viewed as a way to transmit the traditions of their Kurdish ancestors in times as it was not possible to publish in Kurdish or about Kurdish history. Since there don't exist many documents about certain Kurdish events, today there exist attempts to analyze them through the songs of the Dengbêjs. They sing about Kurdish geography, history, recent events, but also lullabies and love songs.

History

Roger Lescot Roger Lescot (1914–1975) was a French orientalist and diplomat known for his research of the Kurdish language. Biography Roger Lescot obtained a degree in Arabic and Oriental literature in 1935. Later he also gained a degree in Turkish and ...

has performed a study through a large amount of Dengbêjs during the

French Mandate The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...

in Syria and Lebanon. In the 1930s the Turkish Government implemented fines on every word that was spoken in Kurdish, putting the tradition of Dengbêjs singing in danger and almost became extinct in

Turkish Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () refers to the southeastern part of Turkey, where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of the ...

. In the 1980s the Dengbêjs were persecuted for singing in Kurdish, as it was forbidden in Turkey to sing in

Kurdish language Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language ...

. At that time Dengebêjs were recorded clandestinely on cassette tapes and distributed. In 1991, the

Turkish president The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national govern ...

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...

announced that the use of the Kurdish language became legal except for broadcasts, publications, education and in politics. The Dengbêjs were again able to perform with more freedom. From 1994 onward, the Dengbêjs were supported by Kurdish politicians to attend festivals and TV shows outside of Turkey and from the 2000s also within

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Dengbêj music became politicized and as a sign of Kurdishness, which was confronted by

Turkish nationalism Turkish nationalism ( tr, Türk milliyetçiliği) is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a Turkey#Demographics, national, Turkish people, ethnic, or Turkish language, linguistic group. The term "ultrana ...

. The Kilam is a specialty of the Dengbêjs, where they just let out spontaneously what moves them, and do not even pause after the end of a phrase.Wendelmoet Hamelink, (2016), p. 58 The style of a stran is melodic and rhythmic, popular and love songs sung at weddings are sung in the stran style. They sing mostly without instruments accompanying them. Traditionally Dengbêjs need to learn ancient Dengbêj songs before performing their own songs. In 2003 the first ''Mala Dengbêjan'' (Dengbêj House in Kurdish) was in inaugurated in

Van, Turkey Van ( hy, Վան; ku, Wan) is a mostly Kurdish-populated and historically Armenian-populated city in eastern Turkey's Van Province. The city lies on the eastern shore of Lake Van. Van has a long history as a major urban area. It has been a larg ...

.Wendelmoet Hamelink, (2016), p. 307 In May 2007 the

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party ( tr, Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the So ...

(DTP) led Municipality of

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

supported the establishment of the ''Mala Dengbêjan'' in Diyarbakır. In several other cities, Dengbêj houses were founded as well. The revitalization of the Dengbej tradition was supported by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. Well-known Dengbêjs include

Karapetê Xaço Karapetê Xaço or Karabêtê Xaço or Gerabêtê Xaço ( hy, Կարապետ Խաչո) (September 3, 1900 Salihe Kevirbiri, ''Bir Çığlığın Yüzyılı: Karapetê Xaço'', Si Yayınları, İstanbul, 2002, p. 66. or 1903 or 1908 - January 15, 200 ...

, Evdalê Zeynikî and Şakîro.Wendelmoet Hamelink, (2016), p. 210

References

Kurdish music Kurdish culture Kurdish language Kurdish words and phrases