Date of Award:

8-2025

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Arts (MA)

Department:

English

Committee Chair(s)

Jeannie Thomas

Committee

Jeannie Thomas

Committee

John H. McDowell

Committee

Joe Kinzer

Abstract

This research focuses on how ballads play a central role in the cultural and spiritual life of the Alevi-Bektashi community in Türkiye. These ballads, performed by folk poets known as aşık (minstrel) with the stringed instrument bağlama are the inseparable elements of their daily life and sacred rituals. As rooted in the path of Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam, and the teachings of 13th-century Sufi saint Haji Bektash Veli, Alevi-Bektashi ballads express shared emotions, struggles, and hopes. Therefore, my point of view argues that these ballads do more than preserve the Anatolian ballad tradition. They create a sense of collective understanding and emotional connection, which I call "communal cognition." Through the ezgi (melody) of poetic lyrics of these ballads, Alevi-Bektashi people look for derman (remedy) for their gender, politics, and love-related dert (malady).

Checksum

04945f4f2a677a75ba931e09c6fb6324

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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