The child in Diwan poetry

Throughout human history, the child has occupied a central position in both individual and societal life, establishing itself as an indispensable element across various cultures, belief systems, languages, and geographies. With this universality, the child has become a shared value in every society, finding its place within both social and cultural structures. In this respect, the child—just as in Western and Eastern literary traditions— appears in Divan literature as well, represented through diverse forms and meanings. Shaped over six centuries under the influence of Arabic and Persian literatures, and eventually developing its own unique poetic structure, Divan poetry treats the child at times in relation to education, family, and social roles, and at other times as a metaphorical or symbolic element. This thesis aims to identify the contexts and frequency with which the child is represented in Divan poetry by analyzing examples gathered from 115 divans spanning from the 13th to the 19th century. The study first addresses the concept of the child from a theoretical standpoint, followed by an examination of the child's place in cultural history. Traditions and customs involving children, idiomatic expressions, and literary devices such as metaphors, allusions, and similes relating to the child are identified and supported with poetic examples drawn from the corpus. Furthermore, terms and expressions associated with the child are examined at both lexical and phraseological levels. Their semantic domains and literary functions are systematically analyzed and categorized under thematic headings. Based on the data obtained, a statistical analysis has also been conducted to illustrate the frequency and distribution of these usages. Keywords: Divan poetry, child, tifl