Translators' formative agency in the periodical Hawar (1932-1943) : the making of a Kurdish cultural identity

Abstract

The present study explores the key role translations in Hawar played in the formation of a Kurdish cultural identity through analysis of translations and translators' agency, adopting the non-essentialist concept of "cultural identity" proposed by Stuart Hall (1990, p. 225) and drawing on the framework suggested by Matthew Philpotts (2012; 2013) and Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar (2014; 2019), as well as on the approach adopted by Michael Cronin (1995; 1998; 2006), and Albert Branchadell (2005; 2011) in terms of minority languages and translation. In this context, particularly focusing on the agency of Celadet Alî Bedirxan, the chief editor, I consider him a "free agent” engaged in "culture planning" (Even-Zohar, 2010, pp. 98-99). This research has shown that C. Bedirxan, addressing both Kurdish and western readerships in Hawar, aimed to form a multilayered Kurdish cultural identity encompassing a dialogic relationship between Kurdish and western cultures, tolerance for all faiths- Islam, Ezidism and Zoroastrianism - and the development of the Kurdish language and literature alongside the introduction of the Roman alphabet to all Kurdish dialects, mainly Kurmanji, Sorani and Zazaki. Focusing on the translators and their translations in the periodical Hawar, this study aims to show that it is also possible to probe the relationship between translation studies and periodical studies from the perspective of a minority language such as Kurdish and thus to illustrate the novel viewpoints it can bring for translation studies and theory.