Kaloghlan Knowpia

Keloğlan (Turkish: 'bald boy') is a fictional character in Turkish culture.

In folklore edit

A well-known character in Turkish folklore, Keloğlan, also known as keleşoğlan, has the problem of being bald from birth.^[1] Despite an ugly outer appearance, he is still a clever and lucky character.^[2] He represents the Anatolian people who can have big dreams, who are virtuous, prudent, a little bald, a little romantic and very sporty.

Folklorist Paul Delarue noted that Keloglan corresponded to the Western (French) hero Le Teigneux, a youth of lowly status and/or ugly appearance that saves the day and wins the princess.^[3]

Popular culture edit

Stories about him were staged by Fisko Birlik, Danone Çocuk Tiyatroları and many special societies many times and attracted a lot of attention and applause.

The Turkish state-operated children's TV channel, TRT Çocuk, aired a series titled Keloğlan Masalları from 2008 to 2016, in which the original storyline was partially retained and largely reimagined.

Also, his tale was serialized by Necdet Şen in his comic book Hizli Gazeteci in 1989 at Cumhuriyet newspaper. In 1991, Remzi Bookstore published a book telling a story about him not being able to fit in and having to make a choice between the rules and his own principles.

References edit

^ Pultar, Gönül (2005). On the road to Baghdad, or, Traveling biculturalism: theorizing a bicultural approach to contemporary world fiction. New Academia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-9767042-1-8.
^ Walker, Barbara K. The Art of the Turkish Tale. Volume 1. Texas: Texas Tech University, 1990. p. 244. ISBN 9780896722286.
^ Delarue, Paul. (1954). [Review of Typen türkischer Volksmärchen, (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Veröffentlichungen der orientalischen Kommission, Band V), by W. EBERHARD & P. N. BORATAV]. In: Arts et Traditions Populaires, 2(2), 177. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41002386