The Interpretation of the Folktale "Keloglan ile Koy Agasi" In Light of the Some Basic Concepts of Existentialism

Abstract

Folktales are artistic expression of actual facts by means of a symbolic language. These artistic texts fed from the tradition are orally handed down from generation to generation by the mothers of folktales or sometimes by the ancestors of folktales. In general, these fictional texts aim to reveal what is good, correct and just and in these texts, a human being talks about other people as the subjects of the tale. When the messages and lessons relayed from past to present through the symbolic narration in folktales are received then the folktales fulfill their goals. The ancient age philosopher, Socrates, uttered very popular expressions such as "Know yourself', "A life that is not questioned is not worth living" and thus emphasized the need for human beings to know themselves. Existentialism whose intellectual roots date back to Socrates era also questions existence and the meaning of existence. In Keloglan Folktales in which we can find the narration of the world through a symbolic language, we see a character, Keloglan, who knows himself very well and never obeys anyone, never accepts to be oppressed, knows what his rights are, resists against oppression and cruelty and finds the meaning of life in justice and love and thus represents a conscious individual. The aim of the current article is to evaluate one of the most popular Turkish folktales of Anatolia, "Keloglan ile Koy Agasi", in terms of some basic concepts of Existentialism that is the common name of philosophical views dealing with the existence of human in the world in all respects. The fundamental argument of the current study is that original inter-disciplinary works can be conducted on a text from the field of folklore in light of some basic concepts of existentialist philosophy. The original design emerging in the interpretative analysis of the folktale will be analyzed within the framework of the article "getting rid of social and personal pressures" one of the articles in the function of the folklore model developed by William R. Bascom making some contributions to Functional Folklore Theory, one of the Context-centered Folklore Theories. In the general evaluation of the study within the context of "Extensive effect", it will be revealed that such inter-disciplinary works can be conducted not only for folktales but also for epics, folk stories and mysticism and thus the current study can serve as a guide for further studies.