Abstract
ELEMENTS OF FAITH IDENTIFIED IN UYGHUR FOLK TALES AND EVALUATION OF THESE ELEMENTS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ANCIENT TURKISH BELIEF SYSTEM
Folk tales, a type of narrative in which we can closely follow the reflections of thought that appear in the scriptures with the discourse” there was a word first " and base the birth of the word on a time before the existence of Man, are undoubtedly verbal accumulations that arise from the people;which convey the oral and cultural heritage to us in the most beautiful form.Based on folk tales,it is possible that we can make a number of socio-cultural,traditional, religious inferences about the area to which these stories belong.The existence and formation of a rich folk story draws attention when examining the folk literature of the Uighur Turks.When these stories are examined in terms of the elements of faith that they contain,it is seen that the elements of faith in question are very widely placed in the stories;almost every folk story has a number of elements of faith.The effects and reflections of faith elements on Uyghur folk tales can be observed from an Islamic perspective and are evident in the stories:
1. Kamerşah İle Şemsi Canan
2. Tahir İle Zühre
3. Âşık Garip İle Şahsenem
4. Senuber
Keywords
Key words:Folk story,faith,ancient Turkish belief system,holiness,folk literature,culture.
