Dengbêjî: The Pillar of Kurdish Collective Memory

Rastinews — Within the vast sea of Kurdish oral literature, no branch has sunk its roots deeper into society than dengbêjî. Despite every pressure of occupation and assimilation, this ancient art has endured as a tradition of resistance and become a central pillar of Kurdish culture. Dengbêjî has absorbed folklore and other strands of oral literature into itself, while building a rich art of speech and word. Every kilam, every epic, reflects real events from the life of the people and leaves a deep mark on their shared spirit. This native literature, passed down over a long span of time through varied forms and melodies, rich narrative and regional dialects, has preserved Kurdish history from every angle and stands before us today as an oral ethnographic archive.

Both the epics of dengbêjî and historical sources point to the great age of this Kurdish literary tradition. Epics such as Memê Alan, Zembîlfiroş, Çîl Osman, Siyabend û Xecê, Xezala Mendol Axa, Kerr û Kulik, Mengene, Xelo û Xelîl Beg and Kela Dimdimê, among many others, have survived from unknown eras to the present day and confirm the antiquity of this culture. Traces of the tradition also appear in historical sources. Among the archives available to us today, the writings of the Greek historian Strabo, dating from before Christ, stand as the oldest evidence. His texts contain information on the geography of the land of the Medes and the culture of the Median people, which he himself links to the oral kilams and epics of that era. Likewise, historians such as Moses of Khoren and Athenaeus wrote of the culture and customs of the Medes, information that had been preserved through kilams and epics. This historical evidence also shows that dengbêjî songs of that era were built on real events and carried both cultural and geographical knowledge with them.

For Kurdish society, dengbêjî serves as a living archive, carrying the experience of centuries down to new generations. Through this collective memory, events that occurred among the Kurds have been passed on as a form of historical record. This memory has kept the people informed both about their own history and about the social, economic and cultural conditions of earlier eras. Songs carried forward from past times have today become a major source for linguistic, anthropological and geographic research.

This literary tradition kept its place in Kurdish daily life throughout the medieval and modern periods alike. In every corner of Kurdistan — from Serhed to Kermanshah, from Urmia to Afrin — dengbêjs, with every kilam, tied the people's collective memory back to their history and turned it into an undying heritage. In the 19th century, European researchers such as Eugen Prym and Albert Socin, in their observations in Tor and South Kurdistan, noted with admiration that dengbêjî lived on as a vivid, active spirit in every Kurdish community.

Before modern literature and modern media existed, dengbêjs also filled the role of literary journalism. The composition of kilams gave voice to the people's deepest feelings and thoughts. Songs of love, pain and tragedy raised personal emotion to a universal level and turned it into shared feeling for the Kurdish people. In the kilam "Eliyê Pûrto," for instance, the killing of Elî is told through the pain buried deep in his mother's heart — and in this way, the kilams of dengbêjî turned Kurdish events and experiences into shared emotion among the people. As Dengbêj Reso put it, events that entered the dengbêjs' mouths "became legend for all eternity." News would travel from one village to the next through kilams, and from one region to another. In wars, clashes, feats of heroism and uprisings, kilams also served the function of news reporting. Dengbêj Cemîlê Bafawî described this role of dengbêjî in his kilam on the House of Ûsivê Seydo: "Let the Ottoman state print it in the papers, in the gazettes, in the new press of Ankara — as long as this world lasts, let it reach the world through the mouths of the dengbêjs, in the gathering halls of the sons of the Kurmanc." In this way, dengbêjî became a vehicle for spreading news and information, giving events a "voice" among the people and turning them into shared social experience.

The German scholar Oskar Mann, while tracing Kurdish kilams and epics, described the dengbêjî training system as the "Kurds' madrasas." These artistic gatherings were so powerful that talented singers from other nations came under the influence of dengbêjî as well; figures such as the Assyrian Dengbêj Jano, Gula File, Karapêtê Xaço and Îsa trained their spirit in the Kurdish language and in the art of dengbêjî. Looking only at recent history, it becomes clear that dengbêjî became a dominant culture among the peoples of Kurdistan and gained acceptance as a shared identity.

One of the most striking aspects of dengbêjî is its role in everyday social life. From the era of the Median state down to our own century, the honor of Kurdish princes and dynasties, and the deeds of Kurdish heroes and warriors, were woven together through the voice of the dengbêjs. Most evening gatherings passed with the songs and kilams of the dengbêjs. In the homes of princes and villagers alike, the dengbêjs' gatherings functioned as a kind of media institution: they spread news of the homeland and, at the same time, interpreted historical events for the people. The pain, wars, love and resistance of the Kurds passed through the filter of dengbêjî and were carved into the people's memory as a literary heritage.

In the 20th century, despite the harsh assimilation pressures of the occupying states, dengbêjî survived. In villages, at gatherings, in diwans and social circles, in mosques and madrasas, masters such as Evdalê Zeynikê, Ferzê, Reso, Şakîro, Eda Mahdo and many others both preserved the old kilams and created new ones. Master dengbêjs could be found everywhere, keeping the people's history alive in the people's memory.

Sociologically, dengbêjî also plays a major role in the community's emotional healing. People burdened with grief and inner pain found relief for their sorrow by listening to the kilams. Songs of mourning, tragedy and lament allowed people to confront their own pain and come to terms with it. For lovers, kilams became moments of joy and celebration. Courage, devoted sacrifice, friendship and the defense of rights and justice — the core values of dengbêjî — were reinforced through moral and social principles.

Despite all the technological changes and the impact of modernity on our lives, dengbêjî still holds its value in Kurdish homes as a link to history. This ancient art is our people's own memory, giving voice to the experiences, heroism and pain of past centuries. In our modern era, old cassette tapes and recordings of classical dengbêjî are reaching new generations with the help of digital platforms and the efforts of contemporary dengbêjs. Yet in this process, a heavy responsibility falls on artists and listeners alike: to keep this precious heritage from losing its authenticity amid popular music and social media. Preserving the authenticity and depth of dengbêjî is a major factor in preserving our national identity and our language. For this reason, we must protect this art as a national treasure for our children and their future.

Today, too, dengbêjî stands as a national link between oral tradition and the modern world. The task of preserving it in its pure form and carrying it into academic study now rests largely on the shoulders of Kurdish scholars, writers, researchers and artists. This vast and rich oral library of the Kurdish people, preserved by voice and by heart for centuries, now awaits systematic documentation, research and scholarly study. Our hope is that this voice, echoing from deep in history, will resound even more powerfully in our digital, ever-changing age.