Kaloghlan Explained

Keloğlan (Turkish: 'bald boy') is a fictional character in Turkish culture.

In folklore

A well-known character in Turkish folklore, Keloğlan, also known as keleşoğlan, has the problem of being bald from birth.^[1] Despite an ugly outer appearance, he is still a clever and lucky character.^[2] He represents the Anatolian people who can have big dreams, who are virtuous, prudent, a little bald, a little romantic and very sporty.

Folklorist Paul Delarue noted that Keloglan corresponded to the Western (French) hero Le Teigneux, a youth of lowly status and/or ugly appearance that saves the day and wins the princess.^[3]

Popular culture

Stories about him were staged by Fisko Birlik, Danone Çocuk Tiyatroları and many special societies many times and attracted a lot of attention and applause.

The Turkish state-operated children's TV channel, TRT Çocuk, aired a series titled Keloğlan Masalları from 2008 to 2016, in which the original storyline was partially retained and largely reimagined.

Also, his tale was serialized by Necdet Şen in his comic book Hizli Gazeteci in 1989 at Cumhuriyet newspaper. In 1991, Remzi Bookstore published a book telling a story about him not being able to fit in and having to make a choice between the rules and his own principles.

Further reading

• Bolat . Nursel . Keloğlan Kimliğinde Türk Masallari Anlatısı: Propp Yönteminde Türk Masalları . NARRATIVE OF TURKISH TALES IN THE IDENTITY OF KELOĞLAN: TURKISH TALES WITH THE METHOD OF PROPP . MANAS Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi . 6 . 2017 . 201–226 . TR .
• Özdemir, Hasan. "Kahlkopf". In: Enzyklopädie des Märchens Online. Edited by Rolf Wilhelm Brednich, Heidrun Alzheimer, Hermann Bausinger, Wolfgang Brückner, Daniel Drascek, Helge Gerndt, Ines Köhler-Zülch, Klaus Roth and Hans-Jörg Uther. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. https://www-degruyter-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/database/EMO/entry/emo.7.137/html. Accessed 2023-02-16.

External links

• The Bald Boy Keloglan and the Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Lubbock: ATON, 2003)
• Keloğlan Masalları Cartoon Series

Notes and References

1. Book: Pultar, Gönül . On the road to Baghdad, or, Traveling biculturalism: theorizing a bicultural approach to contemporary world fiction . 2005 . New Academia Publishing . 978-0-9767042-1-8 . 53 .
2. Walker, Barbara K. The Art of the Turkish Tale. Volume 1. Texas: Texas Tech University, 1990. p. 244. .
3. Delarue, Paul. (1954). [Review of Typen türkischer Volksmärchen, (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Veröffentlichungen der orientalischen Kommission, Band V), by W. EBERHARD & P. N. BORATAV]. In: Arts et Traditions Populaires, 2(2), 177. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41002386