The Life, the Art and the poetry of minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu

Minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu was born on January 7, 1939, in Baykara village, Selim town, Kars. His father Hüseyin Alyansoğlu taught him to play the instrument and sing folk songs when he was thirteen. Rüstem Alyansoğlu, who kept the minstrel tradition by means of his improvisatory poems and stories in the 20th century, is one of the leading representatives of the folk poetry. Minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu had a dream about Azrael ten years before his death and since then this dream had an important place in his life. His poems about this dream play an important role in gaining prominence as a folk poet. He died on October 21, 1981 as he was told in his dream. Our work, named "The Life, The Art and The Poetry of Minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu", consist of four sections except "Preface", "Contents", "Abbreviations", "Introduction", "Conclusion", "References", "Source Contacts", "Poetry Index" and "Postfaces - Visual materials about The Poetry of Minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu (such as photographs, news, correspondences, invitations and prizes)". In the Introduction section is information about the minstrel tradition in Turkish folk literature. In the first section is about Minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu's life and ordering the prizes he won in a chronological order. In the second is information about the art of Alyansoğlu and categorized the poems that were written for Alyansoğlu according to various criteria. In the third section is about the poetry of Alyansoğlu. We reached 226 of his poems from various sources. While one hundred thirty-four of these poems consist of detached poetry, ninety-two of his poems consist of dual, triple, quartet slams with Minstrel Murat Çobanoğlu, Minstrel Şeref Taşlıova, Minstrel Hikmet Arifî (Hikmet Arif Ataman), Minstrel Karahanlı Murat Yıldız, Minstrel Sefil Selimî (Ahmet Günbulut), Minstrel İlyas Kaya, Minstrel İlhami (Hamit Demir), Minstrel Nuri Çırağı (Nuri Cihan Karataş), Minstrel Ali Elvanî (Ali Elvan), Minstrel Hasretî (Sadi Değer), Minstrel Mevlüt İhsanî (Mevlüt Şafak), Minstrel Firkatî (Mustafa Alkan), Minstrel İhsanî (Mevlüt Çalışkan), Minstrel Gül Ahmet (Ahmet Yiğit), Minstrel Selâhettin Dündar and Minstrel Mansur Alyansoğlu, who was nephew and apprentice. In the fourt section, there are poems for Alyansoğlu. While Alyansoğlu was alive, reached one poem. After his death, eight poems. Key Words: Minstrel Rüstem Alyansoğlu, Minstrel, Folk Poetry, Minstrel Tradition.