Gelenekten Geleceğe: Dede Korkut Kitabı
From Tradition to Future: Book of Dede Korkut

Summary/Abstract: The fact that the individual is equipped with the experiences, traditions and customs, beliefs and history of the society to which he/she belongs, and possesses the codes of the society is described as “acculturation”. Two notions called “collective memory” and “cultural memory” come into play during the acculturation process of the individual. The basic methods of collective memory and cultural memory transfer can be classified as verbal transfer, written transfer, visual transfer and material transfer. Folkloric products are one of the most important elements enabling the transfer of collective memory and cultural memory. Transfer of the folkloric products to the next generations is possible provided that they are updated according to the contemporary needs. From this point of view, tradition has a nature allowing for individual creativity. Folkloric products develop through change, thus they have a centuries old legacy of use and transfer. The Book of Dede Korkut, of which we have currently only two copies, is dated back to late 14th century or early 15th century. The Book of Dede Korkut uses the written means in the transfer of cultural memory. In addition to that, and considering the verbal tradition presented in narrations and various other versions of the work existing in today’s Turkic world, this work also uses the verbal means in the transfer of cultural memory which was the reason for creating the text. In this article, firstly the types and methods of the cultural memory transfer are emphasized, and then attention is drawn to the importance of the practical folklore. Later, the works bringing the Book of Dede Korkut from past to present are introduced, and findings and recommendations for realizing the cultural memory transfer by updating the tradition in the example of the Book of Dede Korkut are presented.

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