From Miniature to YouTube: Nasreddin Hodja’s Enduring Figure. A Folk Hero’s Medium Transmutations Throughout History in Turkey

Authors

  • Claudia Tuncel Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Romania Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37130/s34dwb45

Keywords:

Nasreddin Hodja, storytelling, intertextuality, hybridity, adaptation, children literature

Abstract

This paper aims to showcase contemporary manifestations of traditional folklore hero Nasreddin Hodja, a figure that has withstood the passage of time and remained relevant in the Turkish culture, partly assisted by media and technology. As we enter the digital era, I believe that we stand witnesses to a new cultural revolution, drawing on Marshall McLuhan’s description of the paradigm change that dawned with the invention of the printing press. I will use the adaptation theory to exemplify how the figure of Nasreddin Hodja has remained broadly the same throughout the past centuries, but how the context and media used for storytelling his tales have changed.

Author Biography

  • Claudia Tuncel, Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Romania

    Claudia Tuncel: currently Cultural Studies PhD student at the Faculty of Letters, Bucharest University; attended Master’s courses in Translation Studies at Bosphorus University, Turkey (2009-2012); attended the EMUNI Summer School New Horizons in Translation research and Education 2, Piran, Slovenia (2012); translated Filip Florian's novella 'Caietul Galben' from Romanian into Turkish (2010); attended the 5th edition of Literary Translation Workshop Istanbul at the Romanian Cultural Institute, translating excerpts from Romanian authors into Turkish (2012); translated into Romanian the Turkish children’s book ‘Pes Etmek Yok’ (Nu există nu se poate!) by Tülin Kozikoğlu (2020), part of Contemporary European Children’s Literature, a project organized by EUNIC Romania.

References

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Published

2021-12-02

How to Cite

Tuncel, C. (2021). From Miniature to YouTube: Nasreddin Hodja’s Enduring Figure. A Folk Hero’s Medium Transmutations Throughout History in Turkey. CONCEPT, 23(2), 116-126. https://doi.org/10.37130/s34dwb45