Move over? Feminist reading of academic writing on Kurdish women

Abstract

Research on Kurdish women has burgeoned during the last decade, which is a positive sign of the growing interest regarding a highly marginalized population and region. However, most of these works contain theoretical and methodological inadequacies, fallacies and contradictory messages regarding the agency, or lack of it, of Kurdish women, along with an orientalist approach. Using feminist rhetorical criticism and discourse approaches, together with a focus on intersectionality, orientalism and postcolonial feminism, I examine some existing studies on Kurdish women and attempt to uncover the construction of and implications about Kurdish women. I also examine the degrees to which these studies promote narratives that uphold assumptions on gender and implicitly contribute to traditional ideologies of patriarchy and the stigma of being westernized. By demonstrating the significance of a plural model, which examines the lived realities of women, their negotiations and struggles, I urge a fresh approach to the discursive and contextual practice of scholarship on Kurdish women.