'And a thornbush sprang up between them': Studies on 'Mem u Zin', a Kurdish romance. (Volumes I and II)

This study is based on a corpus of eighteen oral versions of the Kurdish romance Mem u Zi n, a tragic love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet which is very widespread in Northern Kurdistan. All eighteen versions, which constitute the appendix, have been translated into English, complete with notes explaining cultural concepts and linguistic niceties.;Chapter Two is a consideration of the relationship between Ehmede Xani's literary poem, revered by the Kurds as their national epic, and the oral versions of M&Z. In Chapter Three, Mem u Zi n is assigned to a specific genre of folk narrative, the romance. Chapter Four is an endeavor to restore the performance aspect of the tellings of M&Z, based on a new look at the scanty evidence at our disposal. The poetic nature and linguistic texture of the oral versions are explored in Chapter Five: Kurdish folk poetics are discussed, followed by the application of the Oral-Formulaic Theory to Mem u Zi n. A detailed comparative study of the versions is undertaken in Chapter Six, looking both horizontally, i.e., across the versions, and vertically, discussing variation within each motif. The final chapter of the study includes an attempt to establish oicotypes by linking the variation in the versions of the story to their geographical distribution: this section includes a map of Kurdistan on which the versions have been plotted, as well as other important sites, such as Bayazid, the site of Ehmede Xani's tomb, and the city of Jezira Bohtan, where the main part of the story of M&Z takes place. The study concludes with a few words about the future of the tradition.;The accompanying bibliography includes sources for the study of Kurdish language and folk literature, as well as publications dealing with folkloristic theory both in general and as applied to Middle Eastern peoples in particular.;The eighteen versions of Mem u Zi n are subjected to a series of comparative folkloristic analyses. Chapter One consists of an introduction to the Kurds, their language and folklore, together with a brief summary of the story of M&Z. This is followed by a critical bibliographic survey of the literature that has been published about the oral versions of M&Z and Ehmede Xani's literary poem by the same name, including also references for the general study of Kurdish folklore. The analysis of M&Z begins with the second section of Chapter One, in which the proverbial nature of the romance, as seen in certain expressions that are derived from it, is investigated.