Mehmed Uzun

Mehmed Uzun (1953 – October 10, 2007) was a contemporary Kurdish writer and novelist. He was born in Siverek, Urfa, Turkey.

Although the Kurdish language was outlawed in Turkey from 1920 to 1990, he started to write in his mother tongue. As a writer, he achieved a great deal towards shaping a modern Kurdish literary language and reviving the Kurdish tradition of storytelling. From 1977 to 2005 he lived in exile in Sweden as a political refugee. During his time in Scandinavia, he became a prolific writer, author of a dozen Kurdish language novels and essays, which have made him a founding member of modern Kurdish literature in Kurmanji dialect. In June 2005 he returned to Istanbul, Turkey. He was a member of the PEN club and the Swedish writers association.

On May 29, 2006, it was revealed that Uzun had been diagnosed with cancer.^[1] Following treatment at the Karolinska University Hospital of Stockholm, in Sweden he returned to Diyarbakir, Turkey, where he died, aged 54.

Works

He published seven novels in Kurdish. Uzun published his first attempt at a modern Kurdish novel in 1985, Tu (You). After that he edited an anthology of Kurdish literature, the first of its kind. Critical success came with his novel "In the Shadow of a Lost Love" (Siya Evînê). The story fictionalizes a 1920s Kurdish intellectual's failed struggle to pursue both his love for a woman and his duty to fight the newly formed Turkish republic.

His novels began to be translated into European languages in the 1990s. Two of his books have been published in Swedish: a collection of essays, Granatäppelblomning (The Pomegranate Flowers), and the novel I skuggan av en förlorad kärlek (In the Shadow of a Lost Love). In collaboration with Madeleine Grive, he has also published an international anthology, Världen i Sverige (The World in Sweden), a pioneering anthology of texts by writers who were not born in Sweden, but who are living and writing there. He also publishes in the journal of the Kurdish Institute of Paris, Kurmancî. He won the Torgny Segerstedt Award for 2001 for his work in a narrative tradition.

The Quest for Protecting the Mother Tongue

Mehmed Uzun was charged several times in Turkey due to his activities in the field of Kurdish literature . He was arrested on March 21, 1976 as managing editor of a Kurdish-Turkish magazine, and was accused of "separatism" and jailed in Ankara's central prison. During his trial in the summer of 1976, he attempted to prove the existence of the Kurds and the Kurdish language. The prosecutor's argument was that the Kurds and their language had no form of existence.^{[citation needed]}Anyone claiming the opposite was considered a separatist and deserved to be punished.^{[citation needed]} He was sentenced to eight months in prison. After release, he was still under the threat of indictment on account of his responsibilities as editor of the aforementioned magazine, and consequently he chose exile and left for Sweden in 1977. The regulations prevailing in Turkey at the time made return to his native country impossible.

Subsequently, in 1981, by decision of the military regime and like many other Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals, he was stripped of his nationality. He resumed his linguistic quest in Stockholm, aided by grants from the Swedish government. To collect vocabulary and folklore, he visited an Iraqi Kurdish leader in a rebel-held mountain valley of Iraq, spending evenings in a tent listening to Kurdish poets and storytellers by the light of an oil lamp. He learned Arabic script to read classical Kurdish poems of the 16th and 17th centuries. Later, he hunted down rare copies of a magazine published by Kurdish exiles in the 1920s. The ill-fated adventures of these pioneers form the backbone of two of his novels, which, like all of his fiction, detail the struggles of Kurds through the ages. He also led an editorial board of intellectuals, who would pay for Kurds to fly to Europe to brief them on obscure vocabulary.

When after many years of living in exile, he went back to Turkey to give a speech about Kurdish literature, seven of his books, six in Kurdish and one in Turkish, were suppressed by Judgment no. 2000/39 of the Fourth Court for State Security of Diyarbakır, dated February 4, 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Books

1. Tu (You), Novel, 1985.
2. Mirina Kalekî Rind (Death of a Nice Old Man), Novel, 1987.
3. Siya Evînê (Shadow of Love), Novel, 1989. Translated into Swedish as "I skuggan av en förlorad kärlek" ,Översättning av Ingmar Björkstén, Ordfront förlag, 241 s., Stockholm, 2001, ISBN 91-7324-716-2, Pris: 303 SEK
4. Ji Rojên Evdalê Zeynikê (From the days of Evdal Zeynikê), Novel, 1991.
5. Destpêka Edebiyata Kurdî (The Beginning of Kurdish Literature] ,Research, 1992.
6. Mirina Egîdekî (Death of a Hero), Poetry, 1993.
7. Hêz û Bedewiya Pênûsê (The Strength and Beauty of the Pen), Essays, Nudem Publishers, 203p., 1993.
8. Bîra Qederê : Roman (Memory of Destiny: A Novel), Istanbul, Avesta Publishers, 1995, 260 p. (Re-published by Nefel, Sweden, 2002, ISBN 91-89687-11-6).
9. Världen in Sverige (Anthology, in Swedish)
10. Dinya Li Swêdê (The World in Sweden), same anthology, in Kurdish, with Madliene Grive, 1995.
11. Antolojiya Edebiyata Kurdî (Anthology of Kurdish Literature] (anthology, 2 vols., 1995).
12. Ronî Mîna Evînê Tarî Mîna Mirinê (Light like Love, Dark like Death), Novel, Avesta Publishers, 350 p., 1998.
13. Hawara Dîcleyê I, Novel, Nefel Publishers, Sweden, 230 pp., 2003, ISBN 91-89687-13-2.

Articles

1. Mehmed Uzun, "Words Washed by the Waters of the Euphrates", International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Vol.14, No. 1&2,pp.36-40, 2000.
2. Mehmed Uzun, The Kurdish Renaissance in Exile, The Journal of the International Parliament of Writers, Vol. 1, Jan. 2001, pp.67-78.
3. Mehmed Uzun, The Nature of Fiction, Index on Censorship Journal, vol.4, 2001.
4. Mehmed Uzun, Diyarbakir: the slap in the face, International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan. 2003.

Notes

1. ^ Kurdish media -Famous novelist Mehmed Uzun has cancer

References

1. Mehmed Uzun, An Introduction
2. Mehmed Uzun, Unionsverlag, in German
3. The Reykjavík International Literature Festival 2005, Find Uzun
4. The Pomegranate Flowers, International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan. 2003, English translation
5. Diyarbakir: the slap in the face, International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan. 2003, An artcile by Mehmet Uzun about his life and works
6. Works by Mehmet Uzun
7. Mehmed Uzun’s defense offered in the Diyarbakir State Security Court No. 4. (19.04.2002)

1. NFFE(Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression) protest confiscation of Mehmed Uzun´s books in 2000
2. Writer and publisher face charges for literary works, International Freedom of Expression eXchange, March 2001

External links

• (Turkish) mehmeduzun.com
• Obituary in The Times, 25 October 2007
• (Turkish) mehmeduzun.uzerine.com

Persondata
Name	Uzun, Mehmed
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1953
Place of birth
Date of death	October 10, 2007
Place of death

This article about a Middle Eastern writer or poet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: 1953 births 2007 deaths Kurdish-language writers Turkish writers Cancer deaths in Turkey Swedish people of Kurdish descent Turkish people of Kurdish descent Middle Eastern writer stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР Charles Ames Washburn Russian Tea Room Look at other dictionaries: Mehmed Uzun — (* 1953 in Siverek/Provinz Şanlıurfa; † 11. Oktober 2007 in Diyarbakır) war ein kurdischer Schriftsteller türkischer Staatsangehörigkeit. Er galt als der bedeutendste kurdische Romanautor der Neuzeit und Schöpfer einer modernen kurdischen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia Mehmed Uzun — (1953 10 octobre 2007) est un écrivain et romancier contemporain kurde. Il est né à Siverek, province de Şanlıurfa, Turquie Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Références 3 Œuvres …   Wikipédia en Français Mehmed — (modern Turkish: Mehmet) is the most common Turkish form of the Arabic name Muhammed (Muhammed and Muhammet are also used, though less commonly), it was originally spelled Mehemed, losing a vowel over time. It is the most common Turkish male… …   Wikipedia Uzun — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Enes Uzun (* 1992), türkischer Fußballspieler Eralp Uzun (* 1981), deutscher Schauspieler Mehmed Uzun (1953–2007), kurdischer Schriftsteller Turgay Uzun (* 1975), deutscher Boxer Außerdem ist Uzun der Name …   Deutsch Wikipedia Mehmed — Mehmet ist ein männlicher Vorname, der insbesondere bei türkischsprachigen Muslimen verbreitet ist und eine Variation des arabischen Namens Muhammad ist. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Bedeutung 1.1 Varianten 2 Bekannte Namensträger 2.1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia Mehmet Uzun — Mehmed Uzun (* 1953 in Siverek/Provinz Şanlıurfa; † 11. Oktober 2007 in Diyarbakır) war ein kurdischer Schriftsteller türkischer Staatsangehörigkeit. Er galt als der bedeutendste kurdische Romanautor der Neuzeit und Schöpfer einer modernen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia Mehmed II — Fatih Sultan Mehmet redirects here. For the bridge that spans the Bosphorus strait, see Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.    Mehmed II Ottoman Sultan …   Wikipedia Mehmed II — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mohammed II (homonymie). Mehmed II Fatih, le Conquérant (Miniature du XVe siècle) Le sultan Mehmet II le Conquéra …   Wikipédia en Français Mehmed II — byname Mehmed the Conqueror born March 30, 1432, Adrianople, Thrace, Ottoman Empire died May 3, 1481, near Constantinople Ottoman sultan (1444–46, 1451–81). His father, Murad II, abdicated in his favour when Mehmed was 12 but reclaimed the throne …   Universalium Uzun Hasan — Portrait apocryphe d Uzun Hasan, issu d un ouvrage en grec et en latin Uzun Hasan (turc : Hassan le Long) (° 1423 à Diyarbakir ; † 6 janvier 1478) fut un dirigeant des Aq Qoyunlu turkmènes. Il régna sur des régions de l’ouest de l’Iran …   Wikipédia en Français 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”