- Roj Qaderi
According to my research, the situation of book publishing in Europe is as crisis and weak as the situation of books in Kurdistan. The difference in Europe is that Kurdish books are published without censorship and even financial problems, but the number of readers and the dispersion of Kurdish readers is so large and scattered that publishing and delivering Kurdish works to readers is not easy. In Kurdistan, the opposite is true. This means that the press and book readers are closer together and the products are more easily available. This point is therefore important to mention because it is not clear how many readers there are in both Europe and Kurdistan, but what is clear is that this number is higher in Kurdistan. Therefore, it is easier to turn this energy and market in favor of printing in Kurdistan. It is an obvious fact that unless this energy of this number of readers and the book market is systematized and in favor of printing and writers, the loyalty and support for the Kurdish language, writers, books, and all related subjects will remain in this state, and it doesn't have enough influence.
Another sad phenomenon is that the spelling and linguistic condition of the works in the printing houses is as weak as that seen in the situation of printing and publishing and their market. There are printing houses that publish books that contain a lot of spelling mistakes and all kinds of Kurdish grammar. No one cares which linguistic and orthography standards this followed. In other words, the press itself does not have a standard for linguistic review of the texts it publishes. Obviously, the lack of attention to spelling and linguistics in texts has led to the lack of special attention to language issues as strategic issues and themes of works.
Despite all that, printing is an industry. This industry has changed profoundly since its inception. What is being observed in Kurdistan is outdated. The press can now belong to the authors and owners of the works themselves. Digital printing and other forms of printing have emerged. This situation means that if this field is not developed and updated in Kurdistan, just as the agricultural profession will no longer respond in the old way, it will not respond to the society and the needs of the times.
Obviously, part of the weak situation of the Kurdish press is due to the problems of the press. The press does not have a clear strategy. They either lack or are unclear in a defined framework. Specific topics receive less attention in the press. For example, there are printing houses that publish songs and proverbs, as well as books on physics, chemistry, literature, and philosophy.
As mentioned above, the printing has undergone profound changes. In Sweden, for instance, a center called Rand has been established that has adopted modern printing methods. In this regard, Rand Zarei, writer, translator, and founder of Rand Center, told Kurdshop:
At the Rand Center, we aim to be an opportunity for a different kind of publishing as well as a way to identify strategies in text production. That is why we say at Rand Center: Our center has a different way of working in the field of production, revision, edition, and proofreading and we have a specific strategy in printing and publishing.
The main goal of the Rand Center is to focus on scientific and literary texts (narrative). That is, we pay special attention to scientific texts. For this purpose, special facilities are provided at all stages of text production to publication. The main requirement for a scientific text is that the author or translator has the necessary expertise and literacy in the field. Regarding narrative literary texts, narrative literary texts, like novels and stories, must be written in Kurdish. We will not go into other areas of text production and printing, which tells the author and owner where and why they should publish their book in a center in their field, and on the other hand, they understand what the future of their work will be and gets which class of Kurdish readers. With these goals, our strategy and plan for the Kurdish language is clear. At the Rand Center, we pay special attention to the grammar and spelling of the language of the texts so that we have both served our language and respected the reader by not providing a work that contains a lot of errors.
The Rand Center is an independent center. The center was established in 2023 in Sweden and operates by the laws and regulations of that country. I think this experience should be tried in Kurdistan. For example, there may be a center that publishes only works in one field. It does not have to be a center with a large budget and a large number of members. Only an independent center with loyalty and expertise in any field can decide to publish only books in that field according to the strategy and rules they prefer. This work fills the market for printing houses that publish whatever comes to their hands without a program and respect for language, writers, and readers, and fills the gap between readers and owners of works. In addition, the presence of experts in a field in an organization gives them opportunities for further development and as a career, many people can be employed and become a source of income for them. In addition, topics such as proofreading, revision, rewriting, teaching writing, and even later can help the Kurdish language and press to publish works in a modern way and line with expectations and needs.
