University of Kurdistan in Sanandaj is organizing a project for collecting Kurdish folktales.
The varsity’s Research Institute for Kurdish Studies has invited enthusiasts to a project in which participants will collect folk stories from the cities and villages with Kurdish people and culture, ISNA reported on its Persian website.
According to the executive director of the project Hiresh Shirzad, the study is to be conducted in three stages. “Kurdistan Province is the target of the first phase. Next are the provinces of Ilam and Kermanshah, and the third will focus on the region of Mokryan encompassing the two cities of Mahabad and Piranshahr in West Azarbaijan Province.” The project has already begun in Kurdistan Province.
The program for collecting Kurdish folktales will cover all Kurdish-concentrated regions, including those in Khorasan region, Zahedan County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, and Shiraz in Fars Province.
Elaborating on the project, Shirzad said: “Faculty members of universities, students, researchers and scholars in Kurdish folk literature have been invited. Those recruited will participate in training workshops where they will be briefed on research procedures.”
The participants who contribute to the project with the stories, narratives and anecdotes, will be considered as official researchers of the Research Institute for Kurdish Studies and get support from the institute, Shirzad said. “Initially we are looking for researchers. Those with experience in folklore will be our second priority,” he added.
The collection is planned to be a rich reference for folkloric stories and narratives of Kurds. It will also provide in-depth linguistic information, Shirzad said.
So far in the first phase of the project, folktales from Marivan County and Leylakh region in six volumes and 2,800 pages have been collected but not published. For scientific classification of the tales, University of Kurdistan is collaborating with the University of Gottingen in Germany.
“In addition to folktales and narratives, the collection will include a history of literature, a cultural introduction, a description of ritual and traditions and sociological and anthropological articles for each region.
Those interested in participating in the project can refer to Kurdistan University’s Research Institute for Kurdish Studies.
