A Historical-Typological Study of Images About Alyps in The Turkic Folklore

Abstract

The alyps, which literally means ‘giants’ or ‘heroes’ were the mythical heroes of Turkic origin This study examines the historical legends of alyps in folklore texts, and investigated their ideological and thematic connection, compositional structure and Turkic character. The aim of this study was to reveal how the images of alyps harmonized with the contemporary life style and integrated with the growth of modern Turkology.  This research adopted a qualitative research design to expand the scientific framework of folklore studies. It used a comparative text analysis, using the methods of systematization, as well as historical-typological, and historical-genetic methods. The data was collected through desk-research methods and documentation study. The data resources comprised folklore and epics/ legends found in historical texts. After the folklore texts were collected and compared, they were analyzed in the light of their ideological and thematic connections, compositional structure and Turkic nature in the character system. The study found out that it was possible to determine the level of historical and genetic continuity and the Turkic character of mythological plots dedicated to the image of an alyp. It was revealed that syncretism, genre integration, and historical principal characteristic of folklore are a few determining factors that help to reveal the unity of motives and contents in the plots created on the basis of the image of an alyp. The study also confirmed that the Turkic folklore developed as part of a process of mutual integration with the historical legends and myths. This study contributes to building a scientific framework of folklore studies and holds a theoretical significance among comparative studies in Turkology.