The Image of Turks in Persian Oral and Written Narrative Culture
MILLI FOLKLOR, sa.151, ss.17-28, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.58242/millifolklor.1787897
- Dergi Adı: MILLI FOLKLOR
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM), MLA International Bibliography, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.17-28
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Cultural memory and consciousness are built upon unique forms of identification and recollection. In this process, elements of oral and written culture playAa functional role. One of these functions is the ability to express phenomena and concepts in collective memory and consciousness at anAaesthetic level, using the unlimited possibilities of language. The concept of the Turk and the semantic framework attributed to it can be traced in the Iranian sphere through both written texts and the oral narrative tradition. This semantic framework, which also encompasses a form of national identity construction related to the image of the Turk, was transmitted initially from Arabic poetry to Persian poetry. Throughout history, the image of the Turk in this geography has acquired diverse meanings within both oral and written cultural traditions and has been defined in varying ways across numerous sources. Although it is known that the name "Turk" first appeared in Chinese sources in 542 CE, it entered Arabic literature during the Abbasid period, with figures such as al-Jahiz and al-Zamakhshari playing a significant role in shaping the prominence of the Turks. In these works, the Turks are depicted as elite warriors and as individuals who stood out in convivial and entertainment assemblies. Moreover, the Turkish image, characterized by an attractive physique, slightly slanted and expressive eyes, long hair, and an appearance perceived as distinctive, superior, powerful, and refined, alongside a fearless warrior disposition initially emerged within Arab cultural contexts. Subsequently, this image contributed to the formation of aAnew ideal type, as well as anAaesthetic and beloved figure, within Persian culture. At the same time, the Persian proverb "Friendship with a Turk is like the tale of water and fire" has survived from centuries past to the present day. In lullabies and folktales, the term "Turk" has generally been employed as a designation of ethnic or national identity. In the semantic trajectory of the term, particularly within Dari Persian, the image of the Turk became synonymous with the beloved and was transformed into a measure of idealized physical beauty in poetry. Furthermore, Persian contains a considerable number of lexical items and expressions formed with the word "Turk." These include Turk & icirc; kardan, meaning to dominate, to disobey, or to display harshness and violence; Turk-i falak, meaning the sun; Turk-t & acirc;z, denoting destruction and devastation; Turk-cheshm, referring to slanted eyes; and Turk-i bilmez, used to describe an ignorant Turk or, more generally, any ignorant person. Such idioms and compounds entered the language and came to be used with a range of connotations. This study aims to examine the meanings attributed to the image of the Turk across various semantic categories and to reveal the transformations and changes this image has undergone over time, as reflected in Iran's oral and written texts, including poetry, folk songs, epics, mirrors for princes, folktales, lullabies, idioms, and proverbs. In doing so, the study seeks to demonstrate how literary texts produced within a particular geography have contributed to the construction of a collective consciousness surrounding the image of the Turk. The corpus of this study consists of written and oral texts produced from the tenth century to the present day. What distinguishes this study from previous research is its holistic approach, which brings together written and oral cultural products from different historical periods. The data and semantic categories concerning the image of the Turk were obtained through a survey of Persian-language sources, and the positive and negative connotations attributed to this concept were interpreted on the basis of textual evidence. The findings indicate that within Persian culture, the image of the Turk has largely been constructed through references to positive conceptual domains such as heroism and beauty, while more limited negative characterizations primarily stemming from a warrior identity have also been identified.