Abstract:

It is known that among other Turkish folk literature genres, minstrel literature plays a significant role. For this reason, analysis of minstrel literature is important for literature and Turkish folk science. Minstrel literature is defined as a creative tradition that describes the humor of society with both a humorous and serious tone, depicts the wishes, emotions and thoughts epically and lyrically and also encourages people to think and be guided while doing this. Also, minstrel literature is described as a branch of literature created by lovers in minstrel literature and placed in folk literature. Minstrel literature is formed with colloquial language and syllabic meter and also known as the general name of the traditional literature which consists of poems played with a stringed instrument. In other words, minstrel literature is known as a genre of literature excluded from the rest of anonymous literary works. The roots of minstrel literature go back to the oral literature before the acceptance of Islam. No matter what it is called or how it is described, minstrel literature is as old as the minstrels who depicted the wishes and thoughts of society with a stringed instrument. These artists and their works are a part of the culture and also reflector of the culture. Created in the Turkish geography, minstrel literature was also strengthened in Greece and Armenia and recreated with the language and culture of these countries. Every artist created works and picked instruments in accordance with the society he lived in. However, stringed instruments were banned in some societies and only oral tradition was developed. Artists did not only write poems but also healed patients, read the runes, did magic, acted as a man of the cloth and hero. This shows the extent to which the tradition of minstrel and its creators were effective. Minstrel literature, all in all, is one of the most significant inheritances that ranges from mythology to sufism, from rural lifestyles to palaces and from places where laments were practiced to entertainment places and maintains our culture and enlightens our culture.

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