Life, art and works of Corumlu Minstrel Muslum Koygun

Minstrel literature, which has a deep-rooted history within the national and cultural structure for centuries, continues to serve as a bridge in understanding and making sense of Turkish folk culture and tradition from past to present, as well as maintaining its existence both theoretically and rhetorically. The minstrels, who reveal the people's world of feelings and thoughts, aspirations, dreams, loves and longings in various ways, lead the way in keeping this tradition alive with all its richness and transferring it to future generations. In the Pre-Islamic Period, in addition to the task of conducting various and religious ceremonies such as "cattle, feast, heap", he was known as "shaman, cam, baksi, play, bard" with eclectic features such as poetry, medicine, musicianship, and healing. and those who receive love are the craftsmen who prepared the environment for the emergence of this tradition. These people, who were in a kind of leadership position in the society with their various characteristics, went beyond the ability to manage religious ceremonies over time after the acceptance of Islam and turned into folk minstrels who kept the culture, traditions and customs of the people alive. As a matter of fact, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü, who classified the phases of Turkish literature for the first time in a chronological sense, also included this subject in detail in his work titled "History of Turkish Literature" and expressed his thoughts about these people as follows: "To offer sacrifices to the gods in heaven, They organized ceremonies in order to fulfill each of the tasks such as sending the soul of the dead to the ground, preventing evil, diseases and deaths from evil spirits, treating the sick, sending the souls of some dead people to the sky, keeping their memories alive (Köprülü 1966b: 58). Minstrel literature, which has existed for centuries with the efforts and devotions of artists with different worldviews and identities, also addresses a very wide geography and undertakes the role of realizing the exchange of feelings and thoughts between cultures on this occasion. The values of the Turks, who acted on the axis of nomadic equestrian culture in the historical scene and acted with the policy of conquest, also spread to different cultures on this occasion, as a result, elements such as the people's lifestyle, traditions and customs, the world of emotion and thought, and the understanding of art had a wide range of influence in many geographical regions. Culture is the sum of the material and spiritual assets of a nation. Minstrels, who have been the spokespersons of the people with their instruments and words for centuries, are among the rare personalities who have carried this culture with their performances and artistic understanding in the oral environment. Folk minstrels, who are values in the cultural context, also pioneered the introduction and interpretation of folk culture in the historical process with their works they put forward on the axis of oral culture and their position in the tradition. Minstrels, who have grown up with the master-apprentice relationship for centuries within this deep-rooted tradition, on which the instrument and the word are the basis, also mediate the survival of this culture and its transmission to the present day with all its vitality, with the apprentices they have trained in the oral tradition. Master minstrels, who exist in various neighborhoods within the tradition of minstrelsy, have tried to be an interpreter to the world of emotions and thoughts of the people with their discourses, which spread from language to language, from word to word, through their arts. One of these master minstrels is Âşık Müslüm Koygun, also known as Âşık Cefai from Çorum, who is the subject of our study. Âşık Müslüm Koygun, who has been in the tradition since his childhood, is devoted to the instrument and the word, and expresses his feelings and thoughts through his instrument at every opportunity, has preserved the elements of Turkish folk culture and hundreds of poems in his strong memory. In this study, not only folk minstrels; The life, art and works of Âşık Müslüm Koygun (Çorumlu Âşık Cefai), who also has a zâkir aspect and came to the fore with his contributions and works to Turkish folk poetry, have been analyzed in a multi-faceted way and tried to be examined in detail