Symbolic analysis of the story Kerem and aslı

Community's "national" character is composed by various elements formed by its own values and cultural background. One of these elements is folktale which has an important place among folk narrations. In folktales, where we sometimes come across heroism, sometimes love and sometimes both of these elements, miraculousness and reality, poem and statement are one within in other. Language which engages audiences to itself in these particular narrations has a separate function with its symbolic feature. Symbols, having been used since the earlier stages when humanbeings existed and started communication, have saved their existence as secret codes processed to various works within that period to modern times. Because of this reason, if every kind of work knitted with symbols formed by community's common unconscious from epic to fairy tale, from folktale to poem and novels, the invisible meaning will appear and it will be seen that works will become more valuable than they are. One of our stories having an important place in our culture is the story of Kerem and Asli. The story "Kerem and Asli" has motifs being its own and rich in symbols as will as main motifs of folk tales. Because of this, analysing Kerem's journey in symbolic and archetypal context has an important place in terms of showing how a symbolic language is used in a well-known story. Key Words: Story of Kerem and Asli, symbol, archetype, initiation