The Second Tradition and Culture of the Self: Looking at Cemil Saeb’s In My Dream

Abstract

The present text is an attempt to refer to the general outlines of the culture of the self in Kurdistan through reading Cemil Saeb’s In My Dream. Culture of the self consists of a set of ethical actions. In this culture, one tries to establish one's own values. In ethical behavior, the individual is the creator of his own values​​ and desires. Apart from ethical moments, actions related to the 'art of living' are also part of this culture. However, positions contrary to the culture of the self are located in a culture that we call it a moral culture. In this culture, a person other than oneself (society) determines the values ​​of people's lives. A quick look at the elements of the culture of the self, and showing its importance in the ancient societies of Kurdistan is one of the objectives of this research. For us, the existence of texts such as In my dream, even though they are not quantitatively numerous, represents a cognitive-historical development that takes place in Kurdistan in the early twentieth century. Through this story, and using the method of discourse analysis, we try to enumerate the points that show how the culture of the self contrasts with the moral culture of the mentioned era.

Keywords

• culture of the self
• second tradition
• ethics
• morality
• cemil saeb