Identifying and analysing the elements of folk culture in the works of İhsan Oktay Anar

Folk culture is a body of material and moral values of a nation which connects the past of it to its future. These values form the works of folklore. The works of folklore are the artistic works which express the beliefs, desires, joys and hurts of the folk. Among these works that has human in the forefront, tales, epics, myths, folk songs, folk stories as well as superstitions, ways of greeting, handcrafts, clothes, architecture and many other similar materials constitutes a theme for the types of literature. One of these types is novel. Ihsan Oktay Anar, a valued author of Turkish literature, like other novelists, has been in a close contact with folk culture and used the materials from this culture in his novels, with a new point of view and thinking. In this study, we analyzed the novels by Ihsan Oktay Anar in which we found out materials rich in folkloric elements based on folklore. We can group the Folkloric elements in the novels the author under two main headings. The first one is formed by mythology, epics, legends, tales, folk stories, public storyteller, slogans, folk poetry and works of dervish lodge and sufi literature. Among them, mythology, epics, legends and tales are in the forefront compared to the other elements. The author uses myths, epics, legends and tales holy texts in his novels usually by means of montage technique. The second group is formed by language and narration, formal numbers, transition periods, beliefs, folk arts and crafts, plays, folk cuisine, clothes, folk music and folk architecture. These elements have parallels with folkloric life.