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Diane Edgecomb raced to save tales of
Kurdish storytellers
2.2.2008
Book by Diane Edgecomb. Article by Milva DiDomizio |
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February 2, 2008
To get material for her first book, "A Fire in My
Heart: Kurdish Tales," Boston writer Diane Edgecomb
traveled to remote, mountainous regions of the
Middle East. Next Wednesday at Framingham's Amazing
Things Arts Center, she performs and talks about her
journey.
more stories like this Edgecomb met some Kurdish
refugees in 1999 and was impressed by their strong
oral history. With politics and modernization
threatening to render the old ways obsolete,
Edgecomb set out to record their stories, doing most
of her work in Turkey between 2005 and last year.
Accompanied by a guide and translator, Edgecomb
spent hours listening to and filming the tradition
bearers. "This isn't just a project to create a
book," said Edgecomb. "I'm documenting the tellers
and creating an archive." The book, released this
month,www.ekurd.net
is the first volume of
Kurdish tales published in English, and also
includes recipes, games, and color photos.
For Edgecomb, getting the job done carried a sense
of urgency. "There were moments where you realized,
'Oh I'm just a few months too late,' " she said,
describing the experience of arriving in a village
only to find the storyteller had recently suffered a
stroke. "It was a bit like a chase with time, trying
to get to people fast enough."
Along with the disappointments, there were pleasant
surprises. "We found one teller whose family for
generations had been in the mountains," said
Edgecomb. "A nomadic family, and only in the last
year had they come down to the cities." The man
related epic tales of Rusteme Zal, a legendary
figure of Kurdish folklore. "He went on for two
hours with just one story and then he told me that
was only the outline," Edgecomb said.
Of the pieces she's collected, a yarn about why the
moon has dirty spots on its face is a favorite.
There are also humorous themes. "They love telling
stories about the fox . . . tricking people and
tricking other animals," said Edgecomb. "Those are
very funny stories. Also beautiful fairy tales,
wonderful wonder stories, which go on and on and
on."
At one juncture, Edgecomb discovered a smoke can be
worth a thousand stories. "We had been told that
this person's grandmother knew so many stories,"
said Edgecomb. |
Diane Edgecomb
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"We had been promised
that if I gave her one cigarette,www.ekurd.net
I'd get one story, and
if I gave her another, I'd get another story."
Anticipating success, Edgecomb arrived with a carton
of Marlboros. "Unfortunately, she couldn't remember
any stories. We were in this closed room and she had
already smoked almost an entire pack and still could
not give us a story."
But then, she said, an amazing thing happened.
"Although she couldn't give us any stories, people
were saying to her, 'Grandmother, don't you remember
this story, don't you remember that story.' As they
did that, they remembered that they knew the
stories, and they started telling the stories, and
as they did she would correct them.
"My whole carton of Marlboros was gone by the end,
but we got the stories."
more stories like thisDiane Edgecomb takes part in
the Amazing Things Arts Center's Outspoken Word
Series at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 55 Nicholas Road. $6.
508-405-2787, amazingthings.org; livingmyth.com.
http://livingmyth.com/
boston com
You can buy A Fire in My Heart: Kurdish Tales
online at the Libraries Unlimited website.
http://lu.com/showbook.cfm?isbn=9781591584377
Or at your local bookstore by asking for ISBN #
978-1-59158-437-7 If you are international there are
phone numbers where you can buy the book within your
region. For International orders:
http://lu.com/ord_info.cfm
Description of the Book
The largest ethnic group without their own
nation-state, there are an estimated 30-40 million
Kurds living throughout the world today. The
majority live in Kurdistan, a region stretching over
parts of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. As a minority
in these countries, the Kurds have struggled for
independence throughout history and into recent
times and have often been oppressed, persecuted and
deported from their land. The purpose of this volume
is to introduce readers to the Kurdish people, their
cultural traditions and their stories.
This unique collection, the first of its kind in
English, features tales collected first-hand by the
author during several years of travel to the Kurdish
region of Turkey. A Fire In My Heart serves as a
reference and program resource for educators and
librarians, introducing students and the public to
this ancient culture. The book is especially suited
to those working with Middle Eastern children and
their families in the US and abroad. From the
Kurdish Cinderella story, "Fatima," and humorous
animal tales to stories based on legendary figures,
for example the Herculean Rusteme Zal, these
thirty-three tales from the varied regions of
Kurdistan and the four major dialects are a
wonderful resource for storytellers, folklorists and
scholars. After seven years recording Kurdish
tellers and traveling to remote mountain villages
the author provides a valuable collection of
previously unpublished tales, traditional recipes
and games. The book is augmented by stories
translated and adapted from small tale collections
in Kurdish, as well as rare color photos from
Iraqi-Kurdistan in 1955 and recent photos of village
life. Background information on the Kurdish people,
their history, land and customs is provided. All
levels.
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