TYPE AND MOTİF ANALYSİS OF THE FOLKTALE FORTY BROTHERS İN THE CONTEXT OF THE HİSTORİCAL-GEOGRAPHİCAL FİNNİSH METHOD
Ekrem DESTANOV
Abstract
This study aims to analyze the Turkish folk tale titled “Forty Brothers”, collected from Buchim Village in the Radovsh region, by applying the Historical–Geographical Finnish Method. Founded by Julius Krohn, the Historical-Geographical Finnish Method is an analytical approach developed to investigate the original form (Ur-form) of folk tales, their patterns of dissemination, and their motif structures. In its early stages, the method was applied primarily to tales collected from Scandinavian regions such as Finland, Denmark, and Norway; later, its use expanded throughout Europe and eventually to other parts of the world. Today, this method is considered one of the most frequently employed approaches in folk tale studies. Within this framework, the study seeks both to identify the variants of the tale under examination and to determine its typological position based on the Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) tale type classification. It has been determined that one variant of the analyzed tale, also referred to as a parallel text, appears in Naki Tezel’s work Türk Masalları (Turkish Folk Tales) under the title “Forty Boys”. The tale “Forty Brothers” addresses themes of brotherhood, loyalty, and justice, and conveys deep cultural meanings, particularly through its heroic structure and the symbolic significance of the number forty. Accordingly, the tale has been analyzed through comparisons with similar narratives in Turkish folk tales as well as with folk tale types found worldwide. As a result of these analyses, it has been concluded that the tale corresponds to ATU Type 302. The study demonstrates both the connection between the Macedonian Turkish folk tale tradition and universal folk tale types and how the Finnish Method can be effectively applied to Turkish folk tales.
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