Begging in narrative text from Tanzimat reform era to the Republic era

Economic problems, which are caused by wars, migrations and epidemics, have been effective in the emergence of beggars from past to present. At first, beggars were seen as special servants of God, but as a result of the harm that some beggars had inflicted on people and their property with their aggressive attitudes, the perception has changed and they have been seen as dangerous. Beggars have become a part of the marginalized segment of the society with the change of this perception. Because of this perception, beggars have been seen as a problem in many societies, and various solutions have been sought to cope with begging. Poverty which has been one of the primary factors in the emergence and increase of beggars has been also fought against. Whereas some beggars have considered begging as the only way to survive, others have considered it as a lifestyle and profession. Beggars have developed various tricks for begging which has been a part of their lives and preferred special times and places to beg. The increasing number of beggars in social life has led societies to seek various ways of solutions. However, beggars have continued to exist even today due to the charity that they receive by using their religious beliefs, compassion, and pity while begging and the inability to prevent poverty. Begging has become a part of society and it has been handled by many authors in their works. These works give clues about the sociological aspect of the period and how this group of people, who experience struggles to survive in society, perceive life. We see that sometimes minor characters are begging and sometimes main characters are begging in the works. The authors have contributed to our understanding of beggars and their lives by giving place to this group, which is a part of society, in their works. Many features have been reflected in literary works such as the lives of beggars, society's attitude towards beggars, beggars' attitudes towards people, differences and tricks of beggar groups, the impact of gender and age on begging and the perspective of authors towards beggars. Thus, the works have enabled us to understand the lives of beggars from various aspects. Keywords: Begging, beggar characteristics, poverty.