This dissertation is an attempt to pose a challenge to the reified image of Kurdishness and Kurdayeti (awakening Kurdish nationalism), from an ethnographical perspective. The focus group is the comparatively understudied Kurmanji-speaking Kurds of Urmia county in Iran, both in rural and urban contexts. The questions is why do the Kurds of this study, in particular, and Kurds all over the Middle East, in general, have a high potential for mobilization during politically charged moments? / 博士(グローバル社会研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in Global Society Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

“Freedom isn't free”; an English expression that Kurds in Iran used it during Iranian revolution (1979) in a new context: a nation who wants freedom and democracy, must pay the price.This study describes what the Kurds as minority have done for freedom and democratization during the Iranian revolution; it analyses later what have the Iranian Kurds get paid. Kurdish question in Iran after the last revolution is the central question here. The purpose is to answer why the revolution as a political opportunity didn’t offer or provide the Kurds demands. The study explains why political situation in Iranian Kurdistan changed for the “worse” after revolution while they participated in the uprising with their hands and hoped for the “best”.A qualitative case study that proceeds Will Kymlicka's theory about minority rights and Robert Dahl's theory of democracy to examine the degree of both the Kurds' capacity to democratize their territory and to describe in-depth understanding of the ability of revolution and the new government to deal with Kurdish question democratically. / <p>2023-01-20</p>

This thesis seeks to examine the Kurdish novel, The Flower of Shoran (1998) by Iranian Kurdish author, ‘Atā Nahāyi in the context of Kurdish identity search and nationalism and struggle to build a nation state. Considering that the setting of the novel is between the two World Wars which is arguably the most critical phase of Kurdish nationalism, the present study tries to give a brief overview of the historical events that shaped and oriented Kurdish nationalism. Subsequently, Nahāyi’s perspective on the question of Kurdish identity and nationalism in Iran which are the underlying themes of the novel is discussed. Also a detailed summary has been provided along with the translation of the first two chapters of the novel to illustrate how a fairly successful Kurdish novel such as The Flower of Shoran has dealt with the Kurdish question of identity and nationalism in the context of Kurds' struggle for autonomy and recognition as a distinct nation. / text