Prayer and curse motif in Turkish folk tales of Anatolian

Turkish folk culture ıs a treasure that contains rich cultural values. The existence of stereotyped elements of oral culture, which are the products of the nomadic lifestyle, was effective in the formation of Turkish folk culture. The Turkish nation has reigned in many different geographies and encountered different beliefs and cultural values. Folk tales have become values that contain elements that convey the cultural codes of settled life, inform about the tradition, and are passed on to future generations. Prayers and curses have continued their existence as products of social memory since ancient times. The applause and curses improvised by the clergy in shamanic ceremonies have transformed with the changing perception of time and space. These magic words, which lost their sacred power over time, turned into phrases used by the people in their daily lives. With the acceptance of Islam, these sacred words, which continue to be kept alive under the name of prayer and curse, kept alive with different practices and discourses in the light of the teachings brought by the new religion, have regained their former power. Based on all these, the reflections of prayers and curses, which are the building blocks of oral culture, on the stories and their purposes of use in the stories have been tried to be touched upon. . In our study titled "Prayer and Curse Motif in Turkish Folk Stories of the Anatolian Area", we tried to examine the presence of prayers and curses in literary works and their religious and historical changes. The subject has been tried to be clarified with the information obtained from written sources. As a result, the social and cultural functions of prayers and curses in Turkish folk culture have been tried to be explained. Key Words: Prayer, curse, folk tales.