MINNESÄNGER GELENEĞİNİN RICHARD WAGNER’İN TANNHÄUSER OPERASINA ETKİSİ
THE INFLUENCE OF THE MINNESA NGER TRADITION ON RICHARD WAGNER’S TANNHA USER OPERA

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to reveal the influence of the Minnesänger tradition on the plot structure and character construction in Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser. Unlike similar studies in the literature, this research stands out by analyzing the Minnesänger tradition not merely as a thematic element, but as a multi-layered transformation of historical memory into artistic representation within the opera. In the research, historical research method was used. The sources influencing the plot and character construction in Tannhäuser were classified as primary and secondary. Each source was analyzed individually to examine its specific impact on the opera's dramatic structure and character development. The findings indicate that the primary sources shaping the plot and characters in Tannhäuser are the 13th-century Tannhäuserlied ballad and the poem Der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg. It has been concluded that Wagner, in the process of creating the plot and characters of his opera, based and combined these two separate medieval texts influenced by the Minnesänger tradition. In addition, Wagner’s secondary sources are “Der getreue Eckart und der Tannenhäuser” (Tieck), “Der Tannhäuser” (Heine), “Deutsche Mythologie” (Brothers Grimm), “Deutsche Sagen” (Brothers Grimm), “Der Kampf der Sänger” (Hoffmann), “Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg” (Fouqué), “Über den Krieg von Wartburg” (Lucas), “Der Sagenschatz und die Sagenkreise des Thüringerlandes” (Bechstein) and “Minnesinger” (Hagen). It was determined that the source that most influenced the plot and character creation of the opera “Tannhäuser” was “Der Kampf der Sänger” and that the work “Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg” was effective in the second act of the opera and in the creation of the character Elisabeth.

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