Abstract:
Epics, one of the most important types of oral literature, have a large number of cadre largely consisting of characters. In this study, the epic heroes of the Siberian Turkish group Hakas, the most bulky genre in oral literature, were taken into consideration and the features that made them a character were identified and the types of Hakas epic were evaluated within the framework of Turkish epic tradition. In this context, in Hakas epics, the characters are discussed in two parts as the main hero character (protagonist) and sub-characters. A main heroic pattern was formed based on the epic biography of the main hero, which was at the center of the events in the studied epics, and the evaluations were made within this framework. Under the sub-character part of the study, the roles and functions of the "anti-hero (enemy/rival)" "woman" and "horse" characters along with "auxiliary characters" in the narrative were determined and these characters were dealt within their relation to the main hero. The study consists of two parts excluding the Introduction, Bibliography and Conclusion. After giving informative knowledge in the introduction about the geographical location of Hakas Turks, their history and folklore, information about the academic studies carried out on the Hakas Turks in Turkey and Hakas epics was given. In the first chapter, the form and content characteristics of the Hakas epics and the tradition of performance were emphasized. In the second and last part of the study, after giving general explanation about "hero" and "character" concepts in a general literature piece and in epics as a special type, the heroes of the Hakas epic that constitute the main subject of the study and their characteristics were examined in detail. While explaining the characteristics of Hakas epic types, nine Hakas epic texts translated from Hakas language to Turkish were taken as basis and examples from these texts were given. These are Altın Çüs, Ak Çibek Arığ, Ay Huucın, Han Mirgen, Kara Kuzgun, Han Orba, Huban Arığ, Altın Arığ ve Altın Taycı epics. After the determinations and evaluations made during the study, it was seen that wars and struggles forming the main subject of Hakas heroic epics are built around the main hero character in accordance with the general structure in the tradition of Turkish epicism. The sub-characters in the epics are also included to complete the role of the main hero in the narrative. However, the functions of all characters are interdependent and necessary in order for each character to continue his adventure. For this reason, it can be said that all the fiction in Hakas epics is built on these characters. Therefore, detailed studies on the characters in Turkish epics will provide important contributions to the evaluation of the epic texts of each Turkish community, while providing a more comprehensive perspective.
