Abstract:

With human existence, abstract and concrete products have emerged through thinking, and cultural development has taken place. Some nations that have advanced their cultures have also created bodies of wisdom. Turkish people, who have reached an advanced level of culture and civilization, have developed their own type of wisdom through collective contemplation, forming a realistic worldview that can serve as a source for others. Because wisdom is a worldview, it is related to cosmogony. In the oldest and most original cosmogonic understanding of the Turks, all manifestations of the universe are based on the two fundamental systems called the “universalist dichotomy”, represented by the Sky and Earth. Although these two universal breaths (two universal principles) oppose each other, they are believed to complement each other and establish a harmonious unity. The universalist dichotomy, which is reflected in every aspect of life, also maintains its place in Turkish mythological narratives. Mythological narratives are compositions of symbols. Analyzing the symbols allows us to reach the underlying layers of meaning beneath the visible part of the narratives. This study aims to decipher the symbols in the “The Narrative of Salur Kazan Kills the Seven-Headed Dragon” through the hermeneutical method to reach the underlying layers of meaning and to demonstrate that the narrative is based on a dualistic system. For that purpose, the narrative, consisting of two parts, will be examined separately and then as a whole, and the compositions formed by symbol analysis will be evaluated together. Although this particular narrative has been extensively researched and examined, it is significant that this study approaches it for the first time in the context of universalist dichotomy.

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