The importance and function of music in the context of death beliefs in the alevi faith: Sample of Tunceli

Music has been responding to many expectations of societies, especially in the emotional sense, from past to present, and has continued to exist with human beings in the cycle of life for centuries. In every kind of trauma between life and death, music has accompanied human beings, and, in a sense, it has emerged as an expression of pain. Not only that, it has motivated the community and strengthened its connection with faith in all kinds of religious activities that human beings considered sacred. Also Alevis, one of the most ancient communities in Anatolia, have blended their beliefs with music for centuries and endeavoured to make the mystical texture between life and death meaningful. In this context, the existence of the beliefs of death in the Alevi faith from the past to the present and their state of being visible today are examined in this study by the sample of Tunceli. Hakka Yürüme Erkânları (Rituals About Death), which are at the forefront of these beliefs and have become remarkably visible today, have been evaluated on the axis of music-faith and tried to be supported by concepts such as Alevi music awakening and social memory. Interviews were made with various source people living in Tunceli and the status of this belief in the historical process was tried to be understood. In the study, a field study was applied, and the data obtained through personal interviews were decoded. In this way, the subjects discussed during the study were supported by the opinions of the source persons. During the interviews with an Alevi Dede (a religious leader), Zeynel Batar, who lived in Tunceli, five examples of works thought to be a forward-looking archive were recorded. The fact that Hakka Yürüme Erkânları (Rituals About Death) which are practiced by Turkey's Alevis living in various places today has a historical depth in Tunceli Alevi faith tradition is one of the prominent results of this study.