Keloğlan (
Turkish: 'bald boy') is a fictional character in Turkish culture.
In folklore
A well-known character in
Turkish folklore
The tradition of folklore—folktales, jokes, legends, and the like—in the Turkish language is very rich, and is incorporated into everyday life and events.
Turkish folklore
Nasreddin Hoca
Perhaps the most popular figure in the tradition i ...
, Keloğlan, also known as ''keleşoğlan'', has the problem of being bald from birth. Despite an ugly outer appearance, he is still a clever and lucky character. He represents the Anatolian people who can have big dreams, who are virtuous, prudent, a little bald, a little romantic and very sporty.
French folklorist
Paul Delarue
Paul Alfred Delarue, born 20 April 1889 in Saint-Didier, Nièvre, died 25 July 1956 in Autun, Saône-et-Loire, was a French folklorist.
A world-renowned specialist in the field of folklore, his crowning achievement was his , a catalog of folkt ...
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.
[Delarue, Paul. (1954). eview 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]
Popular culture
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. Also, there is ''Keloğlan ve 300 Magiclandli'', written by
Çalım Baya, which is an educational seminar with music and dance intended for followers.
Also, his tale was serialized by
Necdet Şen in his comic book
Hizli Gazeteci in 1989 at
Cumhuriyet
''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pr ...
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
Further reading
* Özdemir, Hasan. "Kahlkopf". In: ''
Enzyklopädie des Märchens
The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' (''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') is a German reference work on international Folkloristics, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It examines over two ...
Online''. Edited by Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, Heidrun Alzheimer, Hermann Bausinger, Wolfgang Brückner, Daniel Drascek, Helge Gerndt, Ines Köhler-Zülch, Klaus Roth and Hans-Jörg Uther. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. https://www-degruyter-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/database/EMO/entry/emo.7.137/html. Accessed 2023-02-16.
External links
The Bald Boy Keloglan and the Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Lubbock: ATON, 2003)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keloglan
Turkish folklore
Fictional Turkish people
Turkic mythology