Turkish Studies - International Periodical For The Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic

The Joseph and Zuleika story which takes its origin from the tale of Joseph in holy books has a great reputation that is rarely seen in the history of World culture. This universal story covers a remarkable place in folk literature as well as in classic literature. The first sample of the story in our literature in form of quatrain and with rhyme was written by Kul Ali in 13. Century. Ali's work, which has been mentioned, has greatly affected the narratives of Joseph and Zuleika in oral tradition as well as the Joseph and Zuleika masnavi after him in all over the Turkish world. This impact shows itself especially in Tatar and Bashkir narratives. That the richest samples of the Joseph and Zuleika which is well-known in all over the Turkish world have been determined in Tatar and Bashkir oral tradition is the result of this impact. Extensive information have been given about the samples which were collected from oral tradition of the story in Bashkir Halık İcadı's 6th volume. Samples of 4 melodious performances and also 8 sample texts have been recorded. That those who are the source of the story are mostly feminin; and elements of the tale and the melodious and poetic parts in performances -by means of the Bashkir oral culture- are very crucial due to the fact that this written story shows its originality in folk literature of the Turkish world. Joseph and Zuleika story which was reproduced in Bashkir people's mind has turned into a very rich expositon concerning the motif in oral tradition. In this study, Joseph and Zuleika narratives which were compiled from the Bashkir oral tradition will be presented and these narratives will be compared in form of 17 episodes.