British colonialism and Kurds in Iraq: A postcolonial discourse through textual representations (1914-1958)

This thesis consists of a critical comparative study that focuses on reading and analyzing the impact of colonialism and its legacy in the textual representations of British colonial and Kurdish postcolonial discourses. Leaning strongly on concepts of the Self and the Other in a critical discourse analysis that demonstrates the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, postcolonial theorists in particular Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak provide an understanding of Orientalism in contrast to Occidentalism. Through discourse that leverages the Self and the Other to ratify colonial policy, the research shows cultural control as an effective means for the British to assert hegemonic power and deepen their domination of the Kurds. The severe consequences of control and exploitation on the Kurds and their lands remain visible today. This analysis of British colonial discourse and comparison with the response of Kurdish postcolonial discourse from 1914 until 1958 disrupts the dominant-subordinate relationship between colonizer and colonized. Followed by the historical context of events, the theoretical and conceptual background is provided. The study then scrutinizes the constant dilemmas and longstanding conflicts that appeared with the British colonization of Iraqi Kurds as colonial legacy. The study contrasts the themes of British colonial discourse with those of postcolonial Kurdish literary texts and explains why the Kurdish response was not always consistent in countering colonial power. The study shows that constructed colonial discourse was used as a form of power as part of colonization to undermine Kurdish culture and identity. The research disrupts the misrepresentation of Kurds in British colonial discourse and re-represents the Kurds through a Kurdish postcolonial perspective. This disruption decolonizes knowledge which leads to the conclusion that British colonization assisted by colonial discourse left a negative impact on Iraqi Kurds and their identity.