The Problem of Population Exchange, Mübadele through Deer Myths

In Anatolian and Turkish culture, since Shamanic times, deer has often been considered as sacred, rather than a game animal. Through this perspective, many deer-related narratives were formed and became a part of the folklore. This motif can also be seen in the modern narratives of Turkish literature. Necati Cumalı’s play, Yaralı Geyik (The Wounded Deer, 1979) based on a folk ballad, tells the story of a deer hunt and the curse of that deer upon people. Another example, Murathan Mungan’s play, Geyikler ve Lanetler (Deer and Curses, 1992) again nourished by folkloric tradition, focuses on a curse caused by a deer that is hunted during her pregnancy. This article focuses on a more contemporary narrative, Yusuf Bulut’s story Livera Geyikleri ( The Deer of Livera , 2011) which uses the same pattern too. However this time a new element is added considering the ‘function’ of the myth, stressing a socio-historical problem, which is mübadele . For the population exchange between the Greek and Turkish people in 1923 shows itself as the main thematic concern in The Deer of Livera , how the story benefits from the possibilities of myth will be questioned in the article and an English translation of the story will be presented

Ancient history · Art · Curse · Ethnology · Folklore · Geography · Greek mythology · Linguistics · Literature · Mythology · Narrative · Population · Sociology · Turkish · Anthropology · Cultural and Sociopolitical Studies · Demography · History · Linguistics and Cultural Studies · Philosophy · Turkish Literature and Culture