Analysis of tales in the context of educational messages: The case of Alanya fairy tales

Humanity has been in constant interaction with its surroundings since its existence, and through this interaction, it has developed the ability to use language, which serves as the carrier of culture, traditions, and values. Throughout history, the geographies inhabited by humans, the communities that thrived in these areas, and the events that occurred have left significant marks on the evolution of language. Literary and cultural works, which encompass the developmental processes of language and their societal reflections, play a crucial role in teaching language and culture and in transmitting these values to future generations. In this context, fairy tales emerge as important tools that not only serve as literary works but also shed light on the era in which they were created, carrying the historical and cultural heritage of societies into the future. This study aims to examine the Alanya Tales in the context of educational messages. The book Alanya Tales was transcribed by Sedat Çolak following approximately 30 years of compilation efforts. The book contains 99 tales, categorized into four distinct groups, and was edited by Associate Professor Yavuz Uysal. The tales in the book are analyzed under five main headings and 98 subheadings. In this study, which adopts the document analysis method as one of the qualitative research designs, content analysis was utilized to analyze the data. The tales were examined under five categories of educational messages: 55 messages supporting personal development, 23 messages supporting societal development, 9 messages promoting national consciousness, 8 messages encouraging environmental awareness, and 3 messages fostering universal thinking. Among the 48 analyzed tales, messages supporting personal development were the most frequently observed, followed by messages supporting societal development, environmental awareness, and universal and national consciousness, in descending order of frequency. The most commonly addressed educational message in the tales was "having faith," followed by "being charitable" in second place and "being just" in third place. This study, conducted to highlight the rich cultural heritage of the Alanya region and its significance in education, concludes that the Alanya Tales are rich in educational messages. Keywords: Fairy tale, Alanya Tales, message, educational message, Turkish language education