ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to shed light on Kurdish literature in its both classical and modern forms and periods. It discusses how the modern period and the rise of nation states have caused division in the content and mission of Kurdish literature. The chapter describes the concept and the extension of Kurdish literature and its connotation. Until the early 20th century, Kurdish classical literature was nothing other than Kurdish poetry. The influence of Persian and Arabic poetry on the Kurdish classical poets is obvious. Modern Kurdish literature did not put an end to the diversity of dialects in Kurdish classical literary heritage. Modern Kurdish poetry in Iranian Kurdistan can mainly be seen as a product of modern Kurdish poetry in Iraqi Kurdistan and the obvious effects of modern Persian poetry. The Kurdish narrative discourse in the modern era has its own story, and it does not necessarily follow the same patterns of Kurdish poetry.
