Violence in folk narratives (Case study of Ardahan)

The main purpose of our study is to examine and identify violence in Ardahan folk narratives by contributing to the field of folk literature in order to understand violence, which is the biggest problem of our century, in every dimension. The study analyses the physical, verbal, psychological, economic and social types of violence in legends, tales and folk tales compiled from field studies and obtained from written sources. As a result of the analyses, in Ardahan folk narratives, the narrative fiction based on violence and the presence of concrete violence in accordance with the definitions are present in almost all narrative types. The narratives are mostly dominated by physical and verbal violence. The elements of violence are interpreted by taking into consideration the economic, cultural and geographical position of the region. Our vocabulary consists of the words we use to express our emotions, behaviours, nature and general concepts. These words we use to express ourselves reflect what is present in our lives. The word preferences and expressions used in the narratives show us the existence of violence in Ardahan folk narratives and daily life. In order to analyse, recognise, assimilate and analyse a culture and society, starting by looking at oral culture narratives is the first and most important step. For this reason, the universe of our study consists of Ardahan folk narratives where oral culture and oral culture products are rich. As a result of the fact that an epic specific to Ardahan was compiled and the creation myths of Ardahan were not encountered, the jokes have an element of laughter and cannot be evaluated within the framework of the definition of violence, it was deemed appropriate to evaluate fairy tales, legends and folk tales in Ardahan narratives. In the first part, the socio-economic and cultural structure of the Ardahan province, which constitutes the limitation of the area of our study, is mentioned. In In the second part, the theoretical framework, the definitions of World Health Organisation (WHO) and HEGEM Foundation for Combating Violence were used. Information and definitions about the types of violence are presented. In the third part, violence in Ardahan legends is discussed. In the legends, 107 legends from Dilek Sarıkaya's Ardahan Legends master's thesis (which we prepared and defended) were analysed. In the fourth part, violence in Ardahan tales was studied. In the tales, Ramazan Korkmaz's Çıldır and Ethnography, Ahmet Ali Aslan's Ardahan- Çıldır- Göle Tales, Ümit Kaftancıoğlu's Tek Atlı Tekin Olmaz and 92 tales from field compilations were analysed. In the fifth part, violence in Ardahan folk tales was analysed. In folk tales, 32 folk tales from Ramazan Korkmaz's Çıldır and Ethnography, Mete Taşlıova, Fikret Türkmen, Nail Tan's Folk Tales Compiled from Aşık Şeref Taşlıova, A. Berat Alptekin's Çıldırlı Âşık Şenlik Divanı were evaluated. In the last chapter, an evaluation was made on the classification and causes of violence encountered in prose genres. Texts from Ardahan folk narratives, which are included in our thesis, containing examples suitable for the definitions of violence, were analysed. In our research, by addressing violence in a different discipline, it is important to close the gap of the lack of sufficient studies on this subject to some extent and to create a sample study, to contribute to dialect research since field studies are used, to record the types that continue to exist in oral tradition, to protect the richness of culture and to contribute to the relevant fields in terms of seeing the reflection of historical phenomena.