Dengbêj

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Dengbêj , Kurdish , also dengbej, dengbij, refers to a professional folk song singer in the Kurdish regions in eastern Turkey who, according to an old epic tradition , performs secular songs without instrumental accompaniment. He can be distinguished from the çirokbêj , the storyteller, and the beytbêj , the poet. The strophic singing of the dengbêj embodies an independent musical genre within a narrative tradition that dates back to pre-Islamic times and originates from Central Asia and is handed down by the aşık in Turkey and Azerbaijan . In the northwestern Iranian province of Kordestān , the professional Kurdish bards are called lavjebêj. Some dengbêjî come from Armenia . The epic singers can sometimes be accompanied by a variant of the short oboe mey (Kurdish dûdûk , also qernête ) or other folk musical instruments.

Myths and Stories

Several Dengbêj sit together in a cultural center in Diyarbakır (southeastern Turkey).

The ancestors of the Kurds probably came with other peoples of the Indo-Iranian language family in pre-Christian times from Central Asia to the west of the Iranian highlands . According to one thesis, speakers of Old Kurdish settled in the area of ​​the Zāgros Mountains before they came to Anatolia . The frequently claimed descent of the Kurds from the Sumerians , Medes , Scythians , Urartians or other peoples who founded ancient oriental empires cannot be proven. While there are only vague assumptions about the early history of the Kurds, detailed historical myths provide a cultural tradition that has been carried on over the centuries. The Persian poet Firdausi (940-1020) gives in his verse epic Shāhnāme one of many variants of the story of the evil dragon king Zahhāk , from whose shoulders two snake heads grew out. The snakes had to be fed daily with the brains of two children. Instead of one of the children, the population began to slaughter a calf or lamb and sacrifice its brain. Every day a child was saved by this deception and secretly brought to safety in the mountains. This is how the Kurdish historian Şerefhan describes it in his work Scherefname (Šaraf-nāma), published in 1597 , which is the earliest comprehensive source of Kurdish history. From these boys and girls emerged the Kurds, who from then on moved around as nomads and lived in tents. At Firdausi, the blacksmith Kaveh (also Kawa) led an uprising against the tyrant with his apron held up as a flag in order to redeem the people from this cruel ritual. According to the modern Kurdish version, the blacksmith Kawa was a Kurd, to whom the last of his three children was to be sacrificed, he killed Zahhak himself with his hammer.

This Iranian story of the uprising against the tyrant is one of the classic heroic epics in which the struggle between good and evil plays a central role and which sometimes mixes historical facts with myths. The murder of the Dragon King is on March 21, 612 BC. When the Medes conquered the Assyrian capital Nineveh . Now is the time to declare Kurds descendants of the Medes. The Iranian solar calendar begins every year on March 21 , so the tradition is anchored in the myth. On this day, the Iranian-Kurdish spring festival Newroz is held, which represents a symbol of the cultural independence of the Kurds and whose public celebrations were banned in the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and only allowed again in 1995.

Blacksmiths generally have special magical abilities; in several Central Asian epics the mythical hero is both an epic singer and a blacksmith. In the struggle for an autonomous Kurdistan, the mythical blacksmith Kaveh was elevated to a Kurdish traditional figure and updated to a national symbol of freedom. The Newroz and Meder myths also play a central role in the PKK's view of history . The exemplary story also includes the lived experience of a threatened group who withdraws to the mountains in case of danger and insures themselves there as a tribe of their own origin. Genealogies are built on such legends.

Another Kurdish origin myth connects King Solomon with spirits ( jinn ) and beautiful virgins. According to another legend, ancient Arab tribes fell out, some moved to the mountains and gradually became Kurds there. Kurds could also descend from a demon if the story of King Solomon is spun on, who once threw out of the palace young slaves who were taken in by the demon Djasad and with him the Kurds begat.

The epics and ballads of Kurdish folk poetry are part of a tradition that extends from Siberia, Central Asia and Iran to Anatolia. Heroic epics that relate to historical events and romantic fairy tales can often not be precisely delimited from one another; both contain similar narrative structures throughout the region, recast and adapted to the respective cultural identity. The appropriation of a supraregional tradition for one's own folklore can in certain cases also be misused for political propaganda purposes. A return to the cultural tradition and its denial on the other hand are opposing strategies in the same political struggle.

The epics were orally transmitted and performed in verse by professional ballad singers or storytellers. Mostly they accompany each other on a string instrument: the Turkish aşıklar on the long-necked lute saz , while in Central Asia the plucked lute komuz or the stringed lute kobys take on this function. Only in Kyrgyzstan is there a folk singer, the manaschi , who recites his verses like the Kurdish dengbêj without instrumental accompaniment. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the orientalists Oskar Mann and Albert Socin recorded Kurdish epics.

Singer and narrator

Dengbêj in Diyarbakır

The Kurdish names for the musicians and storytellers cannot be assigned uniformly for the entire region due to regional cultural and linguistic features. The folk song singer dengbêj can write his own texts within the framework of tradition and performs solo or alternately without instrumental accompaniment, in a more recent musical form also supported by folk musical instruments. Singers should have reached a certain age so that their skills are recognized, master the narrative tradition, can write their own lyrics and have a good singing voice. The latter means that the voice should be fine and high, but still strong enough. The job title is then socially accepted as a salutation and is usually part of the personal name. The musicians work professionally, they are prohibited from singing dance songs ( lawke govende ) at events without remuneration. As with the Turkish aşıklar, there are also a few female dengbêjî who are often daughters of a well-known singer.

The training to become a singer takes place informally, many initially received lessons from their father and were later accepted as pupils ( şagirt ) by a well-known singer (teacher hoste , Turkish usta ) . This corresponds to the traditional teacher-student relationship known as far back as India (Persian ustād -schāgird ). When it comes to later recognition as dengbêj , taking lessons from a famous singer has a positive effect on biography. In the province of Hakkâri in the extreme southeast of Turkey and the neighboring province of Şırnak to the west , singers use the Arabic name şair (from şaʿir, "poet"). The şair is a highly valued man from the region who, unlike the dengbêj, appears without payment. The group of these poets include hiking dervishes , their stories with the frame drum def accompany. The dervishes have their own repertoire of heroic stories and fairy tales, which they recite in rhyming verses, partly in the Persian-classical form of a qaṣīda (Kurdish qesîde ). They have a tendency to call themselves dengbêj because it allows them to establish themselves within the Kurdish tradition in order to enjoy an even higher reputation.

The dengbêj can be differentiated from the çirokbêj , which is understood either as a storyteller in the general sense or, depending on the region, especially as a fairy teller. In the latter function, the çirokbêj differs from the serhatibêj, which reproduces serhati , i.e. historical stories that are more likely to be considered true. In certain regions there is a storyteller among the Kurdish nomads who stands out from the serhatibêj and occupies a better social position. This qewlbêj carries qewl ago, texts that have a special meaning.

Stranbêj or stranvan are generally called song singers, more precisely they are semi-professional singers who stand in the tradition of "old songs" and accompany their composed and texted lyric ( stran ) instrumentally. In Kurmanji, Stran can also denote any type of song, the equivalent in Sorani , the central Kurdish dialect, would then be goranî . The Yazidi singers in northern Iraq also call themselves stranbej . East of the Great Zab River in Turkey and in northwest Iran, the poets are called lavjebêj . Another name in the Iranian province of Kordestān is beytbêj.

The singers were part of a hierarchical Kurdish society, which, in the usual way of life of the semi-nomadic cattle herders and landless field workers , was geared towards the leader ( agha , aga, kurmandschi aẍa ) of a tribe or the ruler ( mîr ) of a more or less independent principality. The tribesmen were essentially loyal to the powerful aghas . As large landowners, they held a leading position both politically and economically, and under their patronage the group of professional musicians was able to develop. Poverty drove some dengbêj to the aghas , where they sang songs in honor of their supporters in exchange for food and a roof over their heads.

The literary tradition of the Kurds has been passed on almost exclusively orally over the centuries. The Kurmanji spoken in Turkey is still an oral language today. In the 1950s, most Kurds were probably illiterate, which explains the high social standing of storytellers, who help preserve an important cultural heritage. The gradual disappearance of the dengbêjî was already lamented in the 1960s . Since the 1930s, dengbêjî have suffered more in cities and somewhat less in remote villages from the repression of the Turkish authorities, who punished the public use of the Kurdish language. The singing tradition could practically only be preserved in the country. Nevertheless, dengbêjî managed to meet in the tea rooms of Diyarbakır by 1980 . Public radio ensured that the Turkish folk music styles that were previously only known regionally were widely distributed, but Kurdish music broadcasts were banned. Only the radio station from Baghdad that can be received in the Kurdish region and, since the 1950s, Radio Yerevan in the Armenian USSR, regularly broadcast songs sung by dengbêjî . The programs of Radio Yerevan presented Kurdish music played on traditional instruments in Kurmanji, while the songs presented by Radio Baghdad and some Iranian radio stations were influenced by Arabic and Persian music , some were sung in these languages ​​and Western musical instruments were also used. Radio Yerevan also differed from the other stations because it was the only one that presented Kurdish singers

In 1991, on the initiative of President Turgut Özal, as a first step towards the liberalization and recognition of the Kurdish minority, the public ban on speaking and writing in Kurdish was lifted. In the 1990s, music cassettes with historical recordings by Kurdish epic singers could be bought in Istanbul.

The Turkish writer Yaşar Kemal made an important contribution to the preservation of the dengbêj tradition. In his novel Yer Demir Gök Bakır (" Eisenerde, Kupferhimmel ") from 1963 the dengbêj Evdale Zeynikê corresponds to one of the protagonists. Dengbêjî also appear in the writer's later works . Since 2003 there have been music festivals in Diyarbakır and other predominantly Kurdish cities in eastern Turkey where dengbêjî appear. With financial support from the European Union , the city administration of Diyarbakır opened the Kurdish cultural center Mala dengbêjan ("House of dengbêjî") in May 2007 .

All of the above singers / narrators are part of “their own” Kurdish culture. In contrast to them, there are professional or semi-professional musicians in the Turkish provinces of Hakkâri and Siirt as well as in individual regions in northwestern Iran, who are called mitrip (also mitrib ) and are viewed as a minority that does not belong to their own tribe. The distinction between tribal and non-tribal population groups is characteristic of the Kurdish and other societies in the region. Mitrip (from Arabic muṭrib, “one who produces ṭarabʾ, that is, music”) are musical entertainers who move around and are hired for family celebrations. They are considered more or less ethnically alien, their social position is compared to that of gypsies ( karaci, also qereçi ). Other regional terms for foreign singers who accompany each other on an instrument are gewende and begzade (from bey , originally means "nobleman", also the name of a Kurdish tribe).

Songs and verses

The songs of the dengbêjî can be divided into war songs , love stories and fairy tales. In each case a story with a mythological or historical background is told. The songs are symbolically charged by alluding to the old Kurdish tradition and constructing a past from which a national consciousness emerges and is consolidated. The song genres are in detail:

  • Şer, a heroic war song dedicated to the struggle of great men. In associative images, the heroic achievements of the characters thought of as historical are evoked. The lecture can last an hour or more. The songs draw from the well-known myth fund, occasionally current events dressed in this form are spread. A varying number of long stanzas are integrated into the barely varied melodic and rhythmic pattern. Each begins with a melismatic tone sequence at the upper end of the tonal range , which is often up to an octave and a half, and ends with a long, deep tone. Other melodies only include a fourth or fifth .
  • Evînî is a tragic love story that usually ends in violence and death. The word is derived from Kurdish evîn, "love". Here, too, in each stanza the initial melisms are followed by a quick, non-metric text presentation, which ends with a long, deep note.
  • Çirok û stran means "story with song". The course of the stories and fairy tales is spoken in prose form, which includes sung songs in metrical rhythms and in rhyming verses for the main characters.

According to an alternative subdivision, there are stranê tarîqîyê ("historical songs"), stranên bengîtîyê ("love songs") and stranên şînê ("mourning songs "). The well-known stories that are traditionally Kurdish include Siyabend û Xecê , also Memê Alan (also called Mem û Zin ), and Kela Dimdim . The classic Arabic love story Majnūn Lailā is called Leyla û Mecnûn in the Kurdish version . In the Turkish tradition there is the story of the hero Goroglî (Turkish Köroğlu destanı ). The poetry Ûsiv û Zelîxe is also widespread among Arabs and Turks and has an ancient Iranian origin.

The dengbêj traditionally performs his songs as a soloist, although he can be interrupted by shouts. He often holds a hand to his ear to promote concentration. This gesture can be observed - less characteristic - as far as Central Asia and is also known from Egyptian folk and street singers. Already on a cylinder seal impression by Tschogha Misch around 3400 BC. In Iran and on ancient Egyptian wall paintings, a hand on the side of the head marked the singer. In the Umayyad palace Qusair Amra (Jordan) from the beginning of the 8th century such presentation is also obtained.

Some Kurdish singers structure their epic verses through an antiphonal interlude of the short oboe mey (Kurdish dûdûk ) or the blown Kurdish shepherd's flute bilûr in the same small range.

From the 1980s, traditional epic songs began to merge with an urban folk music style. Since then, dengbejî can be derived from the Kurdish wind instruments mentioned, the large frame drum with a bell ring erbane , the long-necked lute tembûr (variant of the tanbur ) and non-Kurdish instruments such as the Turkish long-necked lute saz , the funnel oboe zurna , the trapeze zither qanun , the Arabic lute ud and the Arabic lute ud Accompany the drums (Kurdish dehol , Turkish davul , Arabic ṭabl ). Melodies performed slowly often sound stretched and melancholy, songs with more dynamic approach the Persian classical singing style. Among the singers who as a result of their vocal training and the tradition regarding their political texts dengbêj are called, include Şivan Perwer (born 1955), Nizamettin Aric (* 1956) and Xelîl Xemgîn.

Well-known dengbêjî performing solo are Evdale Zeynikê (1800? –1913), Kawîs Axa (1889–1938), Karapetê Xaço (Armenian, * 1902–08, † 2005), Dengbêj Reso, Şakiro (Şakir Deniz, † 1996) and Dengbêj Zahiro (* 1950). Meryem Xan (1909–1949) Dengbêj Feleknas and Eyşe Şan (1938–1996) are among the few singers .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Strohmeier, Lale Yalçin-Heckmann: The Kurds. History, politics, culture. 3rd edition, Beck, Munich 2010, pp. 26f, ISBN 978-3-406-59195-2
  2. ↑ Turgut, p. 38
  3. ^ Josef Wiesehöfer : Mountain peoples in the ancient Near East: Foreign perception and self-interest. In: Stephan Conermann, Geoffrey Haig (Ed.): The Kurds. Studies on their language, history and culture. EB-Verlag, Schenefeld 2004, p. 11
  4. ↑ Zuhdi Al-Dahoodi: The Kurds. History, culture and struggle for survival. Umschau, Frankfurt / Main 1987. pp. 49-51
  5. ^ Oskar Mann: Kurdish-Persian research: The dialects of the Mukri-Kurds. Results of a research trip carried out from 1901 to 1903 and 1906 to 1907 in Persia and Asian Turkey. Division IV, Volume 3 . Georg Reimer, Berlin 1906–1909
  6. ^ Eugen Prym , Albert Socin : Kurdish Collections. Tales and songs in the dialects of Tur Abdin and Bohtan . 2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1887–1890
  7. ^ A b New Grove Dictionary , p. 38
  8. ↑ The Wandering Words. Category: Dengbej ( Memento from February 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Turgut, p. 29f
  10. ↑ a b Turgut, p. 111
  11. ↑ Christine Allison: The Yezidi oral tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan. Routledge Curzan, New York 2001, p. 20, ISBN 978-0700713974
  12. ↑ Turgut, p. 40
  13. ^ Thomas Bois: The Kurds. Khayat Book, Beirut 1966, pp. 62f
  14. ↑ Ozan Aksoy, Stephen Blum: Review of the five CDs: Kilamên Yêrêvanê (Tunes from Yerevan) . KOM Müzik 2000. In: Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 40. 2008, pp. 194f
  15. ↑ Brigitte Moser, Michael W. Weithmann: Turkey. Nation between Europe and the Middle East. Friedrich Oustet, Regensburg 2002, p. 232
  16. ↑ Clémence Scalbert Yücel
  17. ↑ Martin van Bruinessen : Agha, Sheik and State - Politics and Society of Kurdistan . Edition Parabolis, Berlin, 1989, p. 168, ISBN 3884022598
  18. ^ Dieter Christensen: Kurdistan . In: Virginia Danielson, Dwight Reynolds, Scott Marcus (Eds.): The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 6. The Middle East. Garland, London 2002, p. 745
  19. ^ Turgut, pp. 29, 375
  20. ^ Turgut, p. 57f
  21. ↑ Dengbej kedri. Youtube video
  22. ^ Paul Collaer, Jürgen Elsner: North Africa. Series: Werner Bachmann (Hrsg.): Music history in pictures. Volume I: Ethnic Music. Delivery 8. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1983, pp. 64–66: The Egyptian singers gave different reasons for this gesture or could not justify it.
  23. ^ Henry George Farmer : Islam. Series: Heinrich Besseler , Max Schneider (Hrsg.): Music history in pictures. Volume III. Music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Delivery 2. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1966, p. 32
  24. ^ Dengbêj Metin (vocals), Turan Gözetki (mey): Heyla Dayê. CD by: Günes Film Kilip ve Müzik, Muş
  25. ↑ Dengbêj Ehmê (vocals), Furkan Aslan (bilûr): Mîr Mihemed. CD by: Kom Müzik, Istanbul 2008
  26. ↑ Evdalê Zeynike. Kurdica
  27. ↑ dengbêj feleknas. Youtube video