ABSTRACT

With an estimated population of over 30 million, the Kurds are the largest stateless nation in the world. They are becoming increasingly important within regional and international geopolitics, particularly since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Arab Spring and the war in Syria.

This multidisciplinary Handbook provides a definitive overview of a range of themes within Kurdish studies. Topics covered include:

  • Kurdish studies in the United States and Europe
  • Early Kurdish history
  • Kurdish culture, literature and cinema
  • Economic dimensions
  • Religion
  • Geography and travel
  • Kurdish women
  • The Kurdish situation in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran
  • The Kurdish diaspora.

With a wide range of contributions from many leading academic experts, this Handbook will be a vital resource for students and scholars of Kurdish studies and Middle Eastern studies.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

part I|23 pages

Kurdish studies

part II|41 pages

Early Kurdish history

part III|47 pages

Kurdish culture

chapter 6|13 pages

Ehmedê Xanî’s Mem û Zîn

The consecration of a Kurdish national epic

chapter 8|6 pages

Calibrating Kurmanji and Sorani

Proposal for a methodology

chapter 9|14 pages

Kurdish cinema

part IV|32 pages

Economic dimensions

part V|58 pages

Religion

chapter 12|12 pages

Islam and the Kurds

chapter 15|13 pages

Yezidi baptism and rebaptism

Resilience, reintegration, and religious adaptation

part VI|21 pages

Geography and travel

chapter 16|13 pages

The geopolitics of the Kurds since World War I

Between Iraq and other hard places

chapter 17|8 pages

Roaming Iraqi Kurdistan

part VII|20 pages

Women

chapter 18|20 pages

Kurdish women

part IX|57 pages

The Kurdish situation in Iraq

chapter 22|21 pages

The state we’re in

Postcolonial sequestration and the Kurdish quest for independence since the First World War

chapter 23|11 pages

The disputed territories of Northern Iraq

ISIS and beyond

part X|41 pages

The Kurdish situation in Syria

chapter 27|16 pages

The evolution of Kurdish struggle in Syria

Between Pan-Kurdism and Syrianization, 1920–2016

part XI|13 pages

Iran

chapter 29|11 pages

Iran and the Kurds

part XII|54 pages

The Kurdish diaspora