An Overview of The Figure of “Sünbül” Used in Medieval Turkish Poetry Cover Image

Ortaçağ Türk Şiirinde “Sünbül” İmgesi Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme
An Overview of The Figure of “Sünbül” Used in Medieval Turkish Poetry

Author(s): Hüseyin Doğan
Subject(s): Semiotics / Semiology, Poetry, Middle Ages, Turkish Literature, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: SD Yayınevi
Keywords: History of plants; Medieval astronomy; Medieval botany; Medieval semiology; spikenard;

Summary/Abstract: In the literature of medieval Turkish civilization, the concept of "sünbül" has a very rich variety of usage. This diversity has manifested itself in the humanities as well as in the natural and applied sciences, especially in Turkish poetry, where the concept of sünbül is widely used. How does the concept of sünbül differ between texts of natural and applied sciences and literature? In literary texts, it is necessary to investigate what is meant by the use of sünbül. In this study, we discussed what is meant by the use of sünbül in poetry by comparing the works created using Turkish in the Middle Ages in natural and applied sciences with the medieval Turkish poetry. In the literature of medieval Turkish civilization, the concept of "sünbül" is a concept used in the disciplines of botany, astrology and semiotics, as well as its use as a poetic image. In our study, a general viewpoint has been created to cover the definition and usage areas of the use of sünbül in the works of the Old Anatolian Turkish period, and in the conclusion part, all these uses and the values that the concept expresses. According to our findings, the use of "sünbül" in Turkish poetry is related to its terminology in the three disciplines. As a botanical term, a relation was established between the sünbül and the ideal woman's hair, and the pleasant scents of the plants known as sünbül in the Middle Ages, the filamentous structures seen in the root systems of these plants or, possibly, the inflorescence. As the term of astronomy, sünbül is meant by establishing a visual similarity with the concept of sünbül, which is used as a botanical term, and the modern sign of Virgo, called "sünbüle". As a semiotic term, the sünbül was used to indicate the perfect hair of the ideal woman, as well as the scent of this hair, it has also been mentioned among the elements that complement the beauty of a unique and celestial garden from time to time. This study also argues that in addition to the aforementioned forms of use, the establishment of the relationship between “sünbül” and “zülüf” is an evolved manifestation of the feeling of gratitude towards the goddesses of agriculture in Antiquity.

  • Issue Year: 6/2022
  • Issue No: 26
  • Page Range: 170-187
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Turkish