ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the beliefs and cultural practices regarding the nature of giftedness within the Turkish culture. It discusses Nasrettin Hoca and Kelo lan as extraordinary prototypes of talent and reasoning, as depicted by Turkish people in Turkish narratives and archetypes in the Book of My Grandfather Korkut, written in the 1400s. Although the model might apply to most cultural development of conceptions of talents or gifts, it particularly displays how Turkish conceptions of talents have evolved over the years. The Anatolian Turkish language that is currently spoken in Turkey has experienced a number of milestones that contributed to the evolution of the Turkish language. The chapter consists of three main parts, folkloric investigations, historical investigations, and empirical investigations. The Turkish people have created legendary characters or transformed folk heroes into idols in folk stories depicting several aspects of human nature from folk beliefs.