BARTIN EPÇİLER VILLAGE “SU KIZI” MEMORAT’S INFLUENCE ON THE LOCAL WAY OF LİFE

Abstract

People have felt the need to explain and make sense of supernatural events they witnessed or heard from others. This desire for explanation also paves the way for people to come together around common values. Folk narratives are important for ensuring the continuation of this unity around common values. Folk narratives have contributed to the formation of cultural dynamics. They reflect the way of life and beliefs of the people, as well as ensuring cultural continuity. This unity and continuity create a layered cultural fabric on local, regional, and national levels. Because these layers interweave, regional narratives often exhibit similarities. One reason for this similarity is that folk narratives can provide both individual and collective relief in explaining complex and unexplainable situations. Memorats are one of the folk narratives that provide this relief. Memorats explain extraordinary situations in line with the beliefs of the people and are stories that captivate the listener with emotions like fear, anxiety, and excitement when heard for the first time. These orally transmitted narratives, handed down from generation to generation, form the foundation of a regional or national belief system. This study focuses on an example of narrative tradition within a regional context. It provides information about the emergence of the "Su Kızı" narrative in Epçiler Village, located in Bartın Province, as a basis for the hesitation of the villagers to go down to the riverbank. Based on face-to-face interviews with eleven residents of the village, the impact of this narrative on the villagers' hesitation to go down to the riverbank will be discussed. The study also covers the influence of the "Su Kızı" narrative on the culture of living together from the past to the present, and a comparison of the local-regional narrative with national-universal narratives. The importance of documenting the "Su Kızı" memorat for Epçiler Village in Bartın is highlighted in this study.

Keywords: Folk Narrative; Memorat; Culture; Fear; Way of Life.