THE KURDISH VARIANTS OF KING OEDIPUS AND THE LIMITS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

Abstract

One of the folklore artifacts where intercultural interaction is frequently seen is tale. Tales can gain a national attribute by being adorned with motifs. However, it is difficult to say that a tale belongs to a certain nation. There are variants of many tales told by various nations, and although many theories have been put forward as a result of the researches to determine the origin and birth place of these variants, none of them alone have been sufficient to explain this situation. In this study, the differences and similarities between the Greek variant and the Kurdish Kirmanc and Kurmanc variants of King Oedipus are identified by comparing them in several ways. The aim of the study is to determine the differences and similarities by comparing the Greek variant (King Oedipus) with the Kurdish variants (Qeder) and the Kurmanc variant and to explain the influence of the cultural structure of different societies on the variants.