Abstract:
All has received a special attention among Turks since he became a Muslim. Not only among the Alevi Turks, but also among the Sunni Turks, his tales of heroism are read, young people emulated and imitated him. The Cenkname tales which tell about All's heroism have played an important role in the settlement and internalization of the love and admiration to All among Turks. The Castle of Blood is also among the dozens of tales that tell about All's heroism. The author of this tale is not certain and it is told from generation to generation. The Castle of Blood narrates about the events that Ali experiences during his journey where he went for finding a present for a kid who will be circumcised. Cevahirzade Mustafa Hilmi Efendi is one of those who has versificated this tale. In this article, Turkish society's perception of All based on Cevahirzade's text is emphasized and the text is tried to be analyzed. When we review the Castle of Blood tale, we see Turkish society's perception of Ali. All has been an ideal character with his bravery, generosity, protection of the weak, overmastering the cruel and his loyalty to his wife. He has acted as a morale figure and directed listeners to be better with these features. The Castle of Blood tale is also a good example of traditional Turkish storytelling. It has several typical characteristics of tales like the war between good and bad, addressing to the listeners, telling stories in the tale and existence of spiritual beings. In this study, these characteristics will be tried to be presented with relevant examples.
