A research on women's folklore in Iraq Erbil region

Iraq which had hosted different nations and cultures since ancient times, is one of the significant geographies where Turkmen and Turkish culture spread. In the country where historical cities such as Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah and Salahuddin are located, Erbil is one of the important cultural capitals which is sometimes referred to as the Citadel and sometimes with the Muzaffariyeh Minaret. Erbil that embraced people from various religions and cultures in historical periods, rose as the capital of the Turkmen, especially during the Seljuks and Ottomans, and became one of the important cultural and artistic centers. Erbil, which experienced its heyday in the Ottoman period, beside to its architecture and institutions, had trained the most important people of science, culture and art of its time and it has a rich folklore. Today, it is a geography where the Turkmen population is densely populated. In recent years where social events such as war, migration and sectarian conflicts are intense in Erbil, the historical and cultural heritage of the city has been greatly damaged due to this conflict and turmoil. Especially due to immigration, the social texture of the city has changed and the traditional socio-cultural life and traditions that have been going on for centuries have largely disappeared. The cultural structure, which has been gathered and shaped in certain neighborhoods and centers, especially in the "Citadel District" since the earliest period, has deteriorated in recent years due to the population immigrating from different provinces, districts and villages and settling in Erbil. At this point, Erbil which is in a rapid change and transformation, the determination and examination of women's folklore that is one of the important structural elements of traditional culture, has formed the main axis of our thesis topic. Folklore which plays a significant role in women's life, in other words, traditions, customs, clothing, transition periods etc. formed around women, that still exists in the Erbil region. The aim of our study titled "A Research on Women's Folklore in Iraq Erbil Region", is to investigate the role of women in the construction of gender in Erbil and its environs, through the products covered by folklore, and to analyze the place of folklore products that have been formed and developed around women in the social and cultural lives of the Erbil Turkmens. The data in the study are the data obtained from oral and written sources. Information from oral sources was obtained by using interview and observation techniques. In the study, hermeneutic and functionalist approaches were adopted, sometimes comparisons were made with the oral cultures of other Turkish communities. With the study, it has been concluded that Turkmen women in the Erbil region are quite effective in the construction and maintenance of social identity. Erbilian women, whom are very effective in keeping the traditional life and culture alive and maintain the women identity shaped by the society, have also taken their share from the local and global processes of change and transformation. In particular, the gender perceptions, cultural and social attitudes of the women of the third generation began to diverge from those of the first and second generations women. While women living in rural areas maintain a more traditional understanding and lifestyle, educated and professional women living in cities have begun to live a much more modern understanding and lifestyle.