Abstract:

Anonymous texts such as fairy tales, epics and folk tales are the products of the common (collective) unconscious that reveal the beliefs, experiences and social rules of a nation bringing since ancient times using a symbolic language. In this context, the discovery of the fourth manuscripts of the Book of Dede Korkut which is known to have three manuscripts until recently, is accompanied by the determination and explanation of the spiritual existence revealed by the Turks is very valuable in terms of revealing its contribution to world culture. Hermeneutics was concerned with the recovery of the "true meaning" of the text by making critical studies on the different versions of the Christian scriptures in the 17th century and was began to be expanded to apply to literary texts in the late 18th century. The two basic concepts of hermeneutics are “understanding” and “interpretation” are always related to each other. In hermeneutics, the meaning of the text is not something to be searched for but something to be constructed. While interpreting the text, the language of the text - hermeneutics is mostly concerned with written texts and is preferred that the text to be interpreted is written in the mother language - and the "commons environment" (collaborative sphere, objective spirit) in which the text is written should be taken into consideration. Because in Dilthey hermeneutics, spiritual life has the character of "historicity". In this study, “The Epic Story of Salur Kazan Kills the Seven Headed Dragon” in the fourth manuscripts of the Book of Dede Korkut, will be tried to be interpreted using the hermeneutic method. During the application of this method, attention was directed to the literary text itself for correct interpretation. It is noteworthy that there are semantic gaps in some words/word groups and expressions during the first reading of the text: Although Kazan defeated a hundred thousand enemies who came upon Kazan, he goes to hunt alone, not with his valiants, and this state of being "alone" is emphasized. He thinks the lights he sees in seven different places are the lights of his own army, but it doesn't make sense for a successful commander to be disoriented. When he sees the sleeping dragon, he calls it as "hero" and instead of killing it immediately, he awoke it by shooting an arrow. Just as the dragon is about to swallow Kazan, a "rock" suddenly appears between the two of them and Kazan prevents the dragon from swallowing him by moving into a secluded part of this rock. Kazan's eye bleeds from the dragon's majesty and Kazan attempts to gouge out his own eye. Learning how to deal with the dragon from his lala, Kazan puts the dragon's head off on his own and made a sheath for his weapons, a cover for his horse and a shade for his tent with the dragon’s skin. Answering these questions to these expressions by directing “Why?/What?” questions and taking into account the "collaborative environment"/ “objective spirit” created by the Turks over the centuries, will help to reveal the meaning of “The Story of Salur Kazan Kills the Dragon”. In the text of the work, we will regard Salur Kazan as consciousness and the dragon as alien/other. Encountering with the stranger/other is necessary for consciousness to realize its limits. The consciousness that encounters the stranger will either be swallowed by the other or be reborn ontologically by reconciling with the other.