Symbolism in Folktales

ÖZ
Türk halk edebiyatı içerisinde oldukça önemli yeri olan halk hikâyeleri, kolektif bilinç dışını yansıtan sembolleri zengin şekilde barındıran bir anlatı türüdür. Bu sembolik içerikli anlatı türlerinin en önemli vasfı bir kahraman etrafında şekillenmesidir. Halkın temsilci olarak seçtiği ve çeşitli özellikleri ile halkı temsil eden bu kahraman hikâyenin merkezinde yer almaktadır. Çünkü kahraman aslında halkın ortak hafızasının bir sonucu olarak hikâyelerde karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Kolektif bilinç dışının yansıması olarak kahraman, üzerine düşen görevleri yerine getirmek amacıyla, sembolik bir yolculuğa çıkar. Kahramanın yolculuğu esnasında karşımıza çıkan bu sembollerin çözümlenmesi, millî kültürümüze ışık tutacak niteliktedir. Halk hikâyeleri arasında, kültürel mirasımız açısından oldukça değerli olan hikâyelerden biri de Ferhat ile Şirin hikâyesidir. Ferhat adlı kahramanın Şirin'e olan aşkı etrafında şekillenen hikâye, sembolik yönden oldukça zengin motiflere sahiptir. Bu çalışmada Ferhat ile Şirin hikâyesi, arketipsel sembolizm doğrultusunda ele alınarak, hikâyenin başkahramanı olan Ferhat'ın sembolik yolculuğu, monomitin çekirdeğini teşkil eden ayrılma, erginleşme ve dönüş aşamaları bağlamında incelenecektir.

ABSTRACT
Folk tales which are quite an important place in Turkish folk literature are non-narrative forms that contain the symbols of collective unconscious richly. This symbolic narrative content type is shaping around a hero. Folk tales most important qualification is this. The hero who elected for representation by people and representing people with various features is located the centre of the story. Because in the folk tale the hero actually appear as a result of the people's collective memory. As a reflection of the collective unconscious, the hero goes on a symbolic journey for the purpose of his mission. Resolving these symbols that encountered during the journey of the hero is shed light on our national culture. Between folk tales, one of the most valuable folk tale for our cultural heritage is " Ferhat with Şirin. " The folk tale which shaped the love of the hero named Ferhat for his love named Şirin has rich symbolic motifs. In this study, folk tale named Ferhat with Şirin will be evaluated in accordance with archetypal symbolism. The symbolic journey of Ferhat who is the protagonist of the tale will be examined with the context of leaving, maturation and return steps.

«Dante’s alertness to the non-literary culture surrounding him means that the common culture of his day merits attention more than ever.» (Jan Ziolkowski)

The three animals that confront the protagonist in the opening scene of the Comedia have been interpreted mainly along two lines: a political interpretation relating to Dante’s own time, and a more timeless moral or psychological reading of their significance. Regarding the first, a little-known mural painting (Uffizi N.Inv. 9374, c. 1295), of three menacing animals in the former Florentine church of San Pier Scheraggio (now a part of the Uffizi), which was used for political assemblies until 1302, is of interest. It appears that the painting was visible only from the rostrum. As for the second line of interpretation, the article suggests a structural parallel to a folk tale, which may shed light on the pronounced genderedness of the scene: an aspect hitherto ignored in Dante scholarship.

1. Three Animals in a Forest
2. Written on the Wall
3. What the Bible Says – and What it does Not
4. Three Animal Antagonists in a Forest: A Scandinavian Donkey-Skin Tale
5. Where Did He Get his Ideas From?

(See also the articles The First Oral Folktale Ever? (Fabula, November 2020), and Is There a Fairy Tale Matrix in Inferno I? (Tallinn 2015)

Children are the future of every society; a people or group which does not value its children by nurturing and preserving them is mortgaging its future. Consequently, those factors which engender development and growth in children are identified and earnestly pursued. Pursuing developmental plans for children presupposes that their presence and importance are recognised, and that quality attention is paid to their physical, mental, spiritual, psychological and social well-being. One way of giving attention to children and also nurturing in them a robust personality, is by writing for, and about them. The focal point of this paper therefore is the advocacy that any literary endeavour which targets children, should be that which exposes them to, and at the same time sensitizes them on healthy behavioural patterns, wholesome socio-cultural phenomena and beneficial principles of life-virtues which, they as children, should be encouraged to imbibe. The writer of children's literature thus faces a herculean task in this regard, because the Nigerian society, from where literary materials are derived, is incongruous with the aspirations of children. The socio-political and economic factors actually conspire to stunt, rather than generate growth. The paper is of the opinion that despite the unwholesome social environment, writers for children must write with a mission to salvage the nation and the future; they should see it as their social duty to couch up a message which will prepare the children as change agents in the nation.