Abstract:

In this research, it is aimed to show to what extent the Turkish people maintained and transformed their former beliefs and national characters during and after the conversion to Islam, specifically in the stories of Dede Korkut. It is known that in the process of conversion, a society transforms the religion into its own national character, and reshapes itself according to that religion. Besides religion, it is possible to think the language, customs, politics, architecture, art, and so on, in the same context. The early works, such as the stories of Dede Korkut should be taken into consideration in this particular subject due to their contents that present enough knowledge about these issues. Although the religious concepts in the stories (they are generally related to the places, people and daily practices) are mainly related to the daily life of Turks, it is possible to draw some theological and philosophical conclusions with reference to them.

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