Mem û zîn in the ottoman literature and its propagation

Abstract

This thesis mainly investigates Mem û Zîn as an aesthetic text in classical literature. The motivation by which this work was written was evaluated in comparison with the post mathnavis written in the same century. Mem û Zîn has been known as one of the most important texts and the first love mathnavi in the classic Kurdish literature, thus it is worth examining the role and importance of Mem û Zîn in the classical literary tradition based on theoretical approaches. Being one of the Eastern mathnavis, Mem û Zîn is crucial as it has been translated into many languages and it is a multi-layered work. This thesis examines the distinctive features of Mem û Zîn in the framework of tradition, and it also discusses how Ehmedê Xanî positioned himself and his work as a poet within the tradition and his approach regarding the forms of articulation with previous poets. Furthermore, this thesis makes an observation about the influence and leadership of his work, which was produced in a canon, in the process of writing the next Kurdish mathnavis. In this context, how Kurdish literature is positioned within the tradition is demonstrated. The last part of the thesis addresses the first translation examples of Mem û Zîn into Ottoman Turkish in the framework of copyright-translation of classical literature. Examining the translated and nazereh copies of the poetry also seems to contribute to the discussions of the issue of copyright-translation. In this respect, the Kurdish version mathnavi of Ehmedê Xanî’s Mem û Zîn and its Turkish translations by Ahmed Faik and Abdulaziz Halis constitute the context of the thesis. Through the investigation of Mem û Zîn’s translated copies manuscript texts, this thesis also focuses on the form of the translations as well as the censorship and interventions made in the texts. The Mem û Zîn translation text by Ahmed Faik provided in the Appendix is a text which not only explains the relation of the literatures formed by the languages within the tradition but also indicates the reflection of a Kurdish mathnavis in the Ottoman. In this context, this text will contribute to the discussion of translation works in this thesis in terms of demonstrating the translation view of that period as well as its language.