A Moment of Recognition and Unity in Diaspora: Multi-Spatial Formations of Kurdish Music in Germany

Immigration from developing countries to Europe is often experienced not only as a social downward mobility but also as a cultural deprivation. In the context of Turkish migrant in European countries, their musical activities have drawn attention as struggles in discrimination: effort for transmitting cultures to the next generation in informal spheres, where indigenous European people are rarely to be found (Klebe 2009, Saglam 2009); 2nd Generation as a main agent who generates Hip-Hop/Rap music allowing to express their emotions as secondary citizens in the host societies (Klebe 2004).

For migrant groups with minority status in the countries of origin, however, the new host society could offer possible spaces to practice, and even develop their disadvantaged or prohibited cultures at the same time. That would lead to intensive transnational connections between people in diaspora and in homelands. This setting can be seen in the case of Kurdish migrants from Turkey. As some scholars sited, the Kurdish music production has been done mainly outside of Turkey, where Kurdish languages were forbidden until 90s, such as in the space offered by the European based Kurdish satellite broadcasting, “ROJ-TV” (Christensen 2007, Van Bruinessen 2000, Hassanpour 1997).

This paper examines how Kurdish musicians have utilized the opportunities in german host societies for their cultural production in the form of music. Based on interviews with musicians and one-year participant observations in regular music activities and events, I will show that such practices not only promote musical circulations among Kurds, but also could contribute to recognition as distinguished group from „Turkish migrants“ in the host society, and eventually present symbolical unity as Kurds, provided that musicians succeed in managing contact German institutions, and "proper" distance from Kurdish political parties.