Abstract
“FROM TRADITION TO IDIOM” ONE OF MUTUAL EXPRESSION FORMS IN CLASSICAL TURKISH AND PERSIAN LITERATURES “SPRINKLING SOIL ON HEAD”
Turks and Iranians (Persians) have some common points thanks to having lived in the same geography throughout history. These points take effect especially when it comes to language, literature and culture. Turks have affected Persian culture greatly especially in the era of Great Seljuk and the Ghaznavid states; on the other hand they were often affected from Persian culture. One of these interactions is the tradition known as “sprinkling soil on head”. “Sprinkling soil on head” or “scattering soil on head” is a notion bearing the statements that are as follows “stating helplessness, to call for help, to demand something, to mourn”. Determining a tradition’s origin, in that to which culture it belongs, is quite tough, although it can be easily said that it’s used in the literatures of both countries. The structure known as “hâk ber-ser şüden” in Persians which is rather used in the meaning of “to demand something / to ask for mercy” states in Turks that a person mourns or is weary of world. Uses such as “being floored with soil, to lean on a rock, to burn straw upon head” which are equivalent to that structure also exist in Classic Turkish poem. In this paper, info about the meaning of the tradition known as “sprinkling soil on head” which is one of the common means of expression in both Turkish and Persian literatures and about its areas of use will be given, some samples of these areas of use in both literatures will be mentioned, similar structures will be focused on.
Keywords
Classical Turkish Literature, Classical Persian Literature, tradition, sprinkling soil on head, idio
