“In the dead of night, a cry” by Ata Nahai

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Mahmoodpour, The Rise and Development of Kurdish Narration, 49.

2 Bezdoode and Amani. “Kurdish Subjectivity,” 23.

3 Particularly the cities of Sanandaj and Baneh. Three short story collections including:

Wail (Zrīka). Baneh: Mang, 1992.

Impasse (Tangāna). Baneh: Mang, 1995.

That Wounded Bird that I Am (Aw Bālinda Brīndāra Ka Minim). Baneh: Mang, 2004.

and three novels including:

Shoran Flower (Gulī Shorān). Baneh: Mang, 1997.

The Birds in the Wind (Bālindakānī Dam Bā). Baneh: Mang, 2002.

Betting on Halālah’s Fortune. Baneh: Mang, 2007.

4 Ahmadzadeh, “Stylistic and Thematic Changes in the Kurdish Novel,” 231.

5 This is repeated throughout the novel as a dominant motif representing the life of the protagonist woman, Halālah.

6 Nahai, Wail, 59.

7 Ibid., 60.

8 See also the Shoran Flower and Betting on Halālah’s Fortune.

9 Gulchīn has two meanings in Kurdish: the selected of the best and one who selects the best of everything.

10 There is a marriage model in Kurdish society in which two girls from two families are exchanged, each marrying the brother of the other.

11 Mām is a Kurdish title meaning uncle used with men’s first name. It is usually used for old people.

12 This is a reverse of the marriage custom mentioned above, where the girls given in exchange for a double marriage are at the same time divorced from their spouses.

13 Short for Khatun in Kurdish meaning lady. It conveys respect when used with the first name of a woman.

14 The divorce exchange can take place on equal terms, as neither daughter will be returned a virgin.