The motif of resurrection in Altai, Tuva and Hakas Epics

The epics, which are one of the important narrative genres of Turkish Folk Literature, are the keys that open the doors to understanding the history, tradition and tradition, belief and thought system of the Turkish nation.One of the important motifs in these epics, which carry the traces of the archaic period and which is formed in the oral tradition and transferred from generation to generation in the memory of the people, is death and resurrection. In Turkish mythology, death and resurrection is a motif designed for good people, especially heroes who take care of the interests of society.This motif, which is also seen in Turkish folk tales, is more prominent in archaic heroic epics.In epics, heroes could be resurrected when they were killed by deceit, usually by Erlik Bey and bad people under Erlik Bey's rule.The resurrected hero reached a stronger and wiser position than before, completing his unfinished struggle, avenging the enemy and bringing his people to prosperity. In this study, the motif of death and resurrection has been examined in the epics of Altai, Tuva and Khakas Turks, who have a very rich oral literature.The motif of death and resurrection has been identified in 14 epics from the Altai area, 8 from the Tuva area, and 8 from the Khakas area.Each identified death and resurrection motif has been dealt with in four categories: the cause of death of the hero, type of death, type of resurrection and post-resurrection.In the study, the effect of the motif of death and resurrection on the course of the epic is emphasized.In addition, the typological similarity between the way the epic hero dies and comes to life and the shaman's death and resurrection has been tried to be shown.In this study, it is aimed to divide the motif of death and resurrection into classes and to determine its purpose in the epic.The study is important because there has not been a thesis-based study on the motif of death and resurrection. Keywords: Altai, Hakas, Resurrection Motif, Shamanism, Tuva