Stamtavlor (Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, 2005)
This Swedish book by a Kurdish-Swedish journalist about growing up in Kurdistan and Sweden is filled with stories about her family and relatives, and Kurdish culture. Written when she herself became a mother and started thinking about her own cultural heritage and what she wanted to transmit to her children.
A big part of the book is filled with proud disdain for a lot of the misogynist and patriarchal practices in Kurdish folk tradition. It is quite obvious that Demirbag-Sten is no fan of religion, and she describes her family’s missteps and the dire consequences that the Kurdish “honor culture” can have.
The tone reminded me of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and other overeager pro-secularist writers. I sympathise with the secularist cause when I read these tales of backwards traditions and blind rage, but I am also wary of those who are too hardline about the secular perspective. It’s certainly a balancing act on a razor’s edge to try to reconcile both views.
The book sent my thinking to the Kurdish people and how their history compares to my own closest ethnic filiation, the Jewish people. For instance, the parts when she and her Swedish husband and small children visited military zones in Kurdistan reminded me of how other Swedes have reacted to military presence in cities like Tel Aviv. Demirbag-Sten portrays Kurds as not being a literate people, and that no written sources remain to tell about their origins.
Many of the stories are real gutwrenchers – heartbreaking stories about torture, deceit and love. It made me think of Svetlana Alexievich’s writings, who is quite expert at picking out and describing suffering. The difference when reading these stories compared to Alexievich is that they come closer to my reality since they have been lived by someone raised in Sweden, and someone I’ve heard speak at various conferences, to boot.
It was a timely read for me, as I too will soon have to think about the same issues of transmitting cultural heritage. It’s quite the conundrum.
(This review is based on the Swedish language version of the book, as it has not been translated to English)
Kinship of all Species 