Components of Anasir-i Erbaa in the poetry of minstrel from Aksaray: Water, air, fire and earth

Anasır-ı erbaa defines the elements of water, air, fire and earth; these are the four main elements though which human beings integrate themselves with nature and meet their basic needs from nature. These elements; in addition to being an ontological subject open to research and discussion throughout history, it is also one of the main concepts of folk literature. Anasır-ı erbaa, which inspired many minstrel in Anatolia, led to different ideas in science. Minstrels who are inspired by anasır-ı erbaa are artists who reflect the feelings and thoughts of the people, can sing poetry in accordance with tradition, can make call-and-respond duets, tell stories, and often perform their performances accompanied by saz. The tradition of minstrelsy, which is the tradition that minstrels adhere to, has been shaped by the influence of many years of experience, has its own performance and has certain rules. Aksaray, which was called the "City of the Righteous" by Evliya Çelebi because it is located in the center of the Central Anatolia region, is important in terms of the tradition of minstrelsy. Minstrels performed the tradition through newspapers and letters in Aksaray. The subjects of this study were the minstrels named "Sururi Başer, Bekir Coşkun, Murat Coşkun, İdris Baştuğ and Osman Apaçık", whose poems were turned into works. Anasır-ı erbaa was examined in the poetry of these minstrels and the importance of the elements of water, air, fire and earth in the minstrel tradition was emphasized. In the introduction part of the study, the purpose, importance, method, scope and limitations of the research were explained. In the first part, the concept of anasır-ı erbaa which was believed to create the universe and human was discussed in detail. In the second part, the minstrels, who are the representatives of the minstrel tradition of Aksaray province, were mentioned and the elements of anasır-ı erbaa in their poems were examined.In the conclusion section, the subject is discussed in a broad framework and the thoughts reached at the end of the study are included.The study is concluded with a long bibliography.