The book opens new horizons toward the understanding of the Kurdish question as a major problem in the Middle East.

- Hashem Ahmadzadeh, Centre for Kurdish Studies, University of Exeter, UK,

This book is not so much about how Kurds imagine their nation and construct their identities as members of it, but more about how the nation-states where Kurds live mould the national identities to which Kurds are expected to conform. And a very chilly, top-down power dynamic it looks too, despite the author's commendable insistence on the plurality of Kurdish communities, the dimension of gender (rarely seen in writings on Kurds) and issues of individual and negotiation.

Times Higher Education

[T]he study is valuable for an understanding of how the history of the Kurds was shaped, especially in Turkey, and it promotes a discussion of the history of the Kurds by exposing many problematic issues in various studies dealing with them.

- Eli Amarilyo, Interdisciplinary Center in Herzeliya, Israel, Journal of Intercultural Studies

This book provides a concise analysis of the making of Kurdistan, its peoples, historical developments and cultural politics. Under the Ottoman Empire Kurdistan was the name given to the autonomous province in which the Kurdish princes ruled over a cosmopolitan population. But re-mapping, wars and the growth of modern nation-states have turned Kurdistan into an imagined homeland. The Kurdish question is one that continually reappears on the international stage because of the strategic location of Kurdistan. In describing the ways in which Kurdistan and its history have been represented and politicized, the author traces the vital role of the nationalist States of Turkey, Iran and Iraq in the crafting of political actors in the region.
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Under the Ottoman Empire, Kurdistan was the name given to the province in which the Kurds, a nomadic non-Arab ethnic group, formed the largest population. This work features the history of Kurdistan, its people, history and culture. It considers the plight of the oppressed Kurdish minority in the modern nations of Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
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Introduction Chapter 1: Nationalizing Origins: Imagining the Ottoman Empire and Kurdistan Chapter 2: 'Set aside from the Pen and Cut off from the Foot': Imagining the Ottoman Empire and Kurdistan Chapter 3: Representing Kurds: A Brief History of Kurds and Kurdistan in Ethnography Chapter 4: Kemalism and the Crafting of National Selves in Kurdistan Chapter 5: Kurdish Inhabitation of the 'Kemalist City' Conclusion
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Also available in hardback, 9781845202682 GBP60.00 (June, 2008)
Also available in paperback, 9781845202699 £19.99 (June, 2008)

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781845202699
Publisert
2008-06-01
Utgiver
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Vekt
302 gr
Høyde
232 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
14 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
256

Biografisk notat

Christopher Houston is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.