A cultural linguistic analysis of Kul Himmet's poems

Cultural linguistics is an approach that examines the reciprocal relationship between a community's linguistic preferences and its cultural structure. When it comes to Alevi poetry, this relationship becomes much more intense, complex, and symbolic. This is because the language of Alevi poets is mostly woven with implicit meanings and metaphors. One of the main reasons for this is that Alevism has historically been a marginalized and suppressed belief system. Therefore, while expressing themselves, the believers turned to an indirect, veiled, and symbolic language rather than an explicit and direct one. This situation exactly overlaps with the central position of the concept of "secret" in Alevi culture. Some words and expressions in Alevi poetry can only be fully understood by individuals belonging to the faith community. These words sometimes carry symbolic meanings and sometimes refer to certain rituals, mythological figures, or historical events. From an external perspective, these words may appear merely as religious terms; however, within the Alevi belief system, they also express an individual's position within the community, spiritual journey, and inner transformation. In this sense, Alevi poetry presents a linguistic universe in which words are filled with secrets and equipped with cultural codes. However, it is observed that the linguistic obscurity in Alevi poetry has not been sufficiently examined in the academic field. The meanings of some terms or idioms in these poems have been forgotten over time with social transformations or have become understandable only within certain circles. This situation reveals that Alevi poetry should be addressed not only from a literary point of view but also within the context of cultural memory, identity construction, and social structure. At this point, cultural linguistics comes into play. Analyses based on the etymological origins, contextual uses, and associations of the terms in question will both provide a deep understanding of Alevi culture and contribute to the preservation of this cultural vocabulary.