The Kurdish Novel from Kurdistan to Exile: A Comparative Analysis of Novelistic Discourse in Kurmanji Dialect between Kurdistan and its Diaspora with regard to the idea of home, Nationalism, and Identity. Through this topic, I basically aim at analysing how differently the idea of home, nationalism, Kurdish identity, and the sense of belonging are dealt with in each selected Kurdish novel in order to explore thematic differences and approaches between novels published in Kurdistan and Diaspora. Not only have the linguistic diversity and the lack of political and national unity shaped the fragmented character of Kurdish novelistic discourse, yet forced displacement and voluntary migration of many Kurds westward in search of freedom has led to the creation of a different literary narrative discourse in terms of the way in which the idea of home, identity, and nation are regarded. Due to limitation of this research and opportunities, Kurdish novels in Kurmanji dialect and its Diaspora will be my main concern throughout this study. Because their mother tongue was banned, Kurdish writers in Turkey and Syria have differences from other writers in certain aspects including the idea of home, identity and the sense of belonging. Their current situation and specific problems can be better understood in the context of the events in the past, the long-lasting ban on their language and the oppression. Therefore, this paper will also focus on the historical background and the situation of the Kurdish language mainly in Turkey and Syria. When and why did the ban on Kurdish publications start? How was this put into practice? Within the literary genre, my main concern will be the novel form. The reason for this lies behind the accepted notion affirming the close relationship between novel and nation-building. Due to the lack of a nation-state, the Kurdish novel exists mainly in the context to pursue national identity and the aspiration for a homeland. However, can we talk about the same aspiration or struggle for novels written/published in Kurdistan and those written in its Diaspora? What happens to the idea of ‘home’ for Kurdish migrant authors who live far from the lands of their birth? How might their travels impact upon the ways home and identity are considered? Thus, approaching questions above, with this paper, I will mainly attempt to examine the differences in the perception of homeland, nationalism, and identity in novels both in Diaspora and Kurdistan.