Alevi ve Bektaşi Sözlü Kültüründeki Değer Kavramları

Abstract

The meeting of the Turks with Alawism coincides with the beginning of the introduction of Islam. For this reason, Alawism has started to spread among the Turks living in rural areas or living innomads. Written transfer was not very common in these communities because of their way of life. Accordingly, Alawism culture and teachings have been taught and passed on to the next generationsby means of oral transmission. Although this situation creates the impression that some cultural elements belonging to Alawism have disappeared, it is understood that these transfer elements have been preserved to a great extent due to their strength and public acceptance. Gulbank is the strongestof these cultural transfer elements with different forms such as poetry and saying. Gulbank, which is a kind of prayer in Alawi and Bektashi oral culture, also contains strong moral advice. Gulbank often refers to the value patterns that are considered important in the Turkish culture and Islamic tradition.In this study, value patterns on basic topics such as “belief, people, education and science, the place of women in society, friendship, love, affection, modesty, bravery, truthfulness” which are included in the Alawi and Bektashi gulbanks, are discussed. In addition, the concepts of ‘value’ in other oral cultural elements were also investigated. Accordingly, theoretical works and interviews with opinion leaders were examined. The pattern of the study was created in accordance with qualitative research methods. The findings were constructed using a critical point of view and interpretation technique.The main argument of this study is that the concepts of ‘value’, which take a strong place in the Alawi and Bektashi oral culture, are compatible with universal and Islamic values, and at the same time,these values play a vital function in the formation of Turkish culture. Even this claim alone makes the subject important and worthy of investigation.