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Nationalism and Language in Kurdistan, 1918-1985, by Amir Hassanpour. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press, 1992. xliii + 468 pages. Bibl. to p. 520. $109.95. Reviewed by Ernest N. McCarus
The author's stated aim in this study is to present a "case study" that provides "considerable detail about the relationship between language and nation-building" (p. xxviii). The book is not only a linguistic but also a socio-political and cultural study of nation building that focuses, in part, on language standardization and the role of the various central governments in language planning and designing language policies. The area of geographical concentration of the study is those parts of Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, since World War I, where the Kurdish language was spoken. The evolution of written Kurdish literature, however, is traced from the 17th century to contemporary times. A mass of documentation is provided to support and/or refute conflicting claims about the Kurds' status; indeed, the author is to be commended for his meticulous and painstaking care in consulting publications, official documents and reports, and in personally interviewing trend-setters in Kurdish literature, politics, etc. in the preparation of his...