Folk-Tale Teller Kezban Karakoc from Balikesir in Context of Localization, Performance and Bodylore

The folktale is one of the most studied topics in the folk literature. Specifically, in the folk tale studies conducted in Turkey, it is noteworthy that text-based theories and methods are generally preferred and used. Text-based approaches are observed not only in the study of folk tales but also in the determination and identification process of the characteristics of folk tales. The folk-tale, which is defined as a genre where made-up and imaginary events are told and the folk-tale tellers are also sidelined because of such text-based approaches. Yet, like every people-based product, folk tales are associated with the narrator s biography, her perspectives, stance, and social context, and she definitely reflects these on her tales. Moreover, storytelling is not merely a text transfer, but it is a social and communicative phenomenon on which certain functions are loaded in the framework of certain conventions, and it also includes processes like the use of voice, gestures and facial expressions of the folk-tale teller and reactions of the audience. In this study, by using forty one folk tale samples compiled from Kezban Karakoc, a folk-tale teller from Balikesir, as the benchmark, the narrator s effects on the narration and the interactions and communications emerging between the narrator and the audience are analyzed. The problem of localization of the tales in general or specifically by the narrator has been detected in the samples taken from the narrator s repertoire. In addition, whether the narrator s gestures and facial expressions during the narrations can be considered as bodylore was discussed.