Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality continues its efforts to protect and promote the Dengbej tradition, which carries oral culture to future generations.
A "Dengbejlik Tradition" panel was organized by the Department of Culture and Social Affairs within the scope of the '2024 Ali Emiri Culture and Art Season'.
Academicians and researchers attended the panel held at Dengbej House in the Central Sur district.
Before the panel, dengbejs sang their prayers to the participants.
In the panel held in two sessions, Dr. Lecturer Member M. Şerif Azarkan, Dr. Lecturer Member Nevzat Eminoğlu, Dr. Lecturer Member Ömer Delikaya, Researcher Seyda Goyan and Researcher Zeynep Yaş made their presentations.
Dengbej tradition spreads around the world
Luna Erşahin, one of the participants, said that she came from Denmark to research the Dengbej tradition.
Stating that he came from Denmark and that his mother was Danish and his father was Kurdish, Erşahin stated that he was interested in Dengbej and that the panel contributed a lot to him.
Erşahin said:
“Unfortunately, I do not know Kurdish, but I am learning. Even if I don't understand the dengbejs, it is obvious that they reflect emotions. I am also a musician and I use Turkish and Kurdish in my music. Dengbejler has been very inspiring for me.”
“The source of Dengbejism is based on a thousand years of oral tradition”
Dr. from Muş Alparaslan University, Department of Kurdology. Lecturer Member Nevzat Eminoğlu stated the following:
“Dengbejlik is an important field in Kurdish Folk Literature. Dengbej literature is a special field that expresses the joys, mournings, spring and beauties of the society. There are records of Dengbejism dating back two centuries, but the origins of Dengbejism lie in oral tradition dating back a thousand years, perhaps even older. Currently, it has become widespread as an aesthetic element and a literary field in society. Today, dengbej is the subject of research in master's and doctoral theses. In fact, Dengbej History is taught as a course in the Kurdish Language and Literature department.”
Dengbej İbrahim Almas, who started his speech by commemorating those who lost their lives in the earthquake last year, stated that they organized a panel to promote the dengbej culture.
Almas continued as follows:
“Here, we both guide dengbej and demonstrate our dengbej skills. Our guests come all the time, just like the ones we have here now. We welcome our guests here. "We convey what we know to them in Turkish and Kurdish and answer the questions they ask."