Religious and moral thought in a 15th century compilation of versified folktales

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the religious and moral thought in a 15th century compilation of versified folktales, which narrates the miracles and legends of Prophet Muhammad and Ali b. Abi Talib. One of the primary purposes of the study is to examine these folktales in the historical and literary context of the compilation itself, to investigate how these orally inherited narratives produce a religious and moral thought within the vernacularization dynamic of Turkish and what functions this thought fulfills on their readers/listeners. Another aim of the study is to present the transliterated edition and analysis of the oldest known copy of Aksaraylı İsa's Dāsitān-ı İsmāʿīl and Mevt-i Muhammed-nāme, an anonymous work with no copies other than this compilation. The introduction chapter provides a theoretical framework for the unique role of the folktales in the vernacularization process and the function of semiotic elements, which manifest themselves through mythical narratives and sensory language, in the transmission of "religious" meaning. The second chapter discusses the place of the dâsitân genre within the mecmua literature and the audience that it addresess and gives the previous publications and summaries of the folktales. The third chapter reveals the moral codes and the implicit messages of the folktales conveyed to the audience through the heroic role of Prophet Muhammad and Ali b. Abi Talib with close reading. The fourth chapter examines Mevt-i Muhammed-nāme and Dāsitān-ı İsmāʿīl and gives the transliteration of the texts.