THE DRAGON MOTIF IN ANATOLIAN LEGENDS

In this study, we will review the dragon motif in Anatolian Turkish legends that were compiled from verbal, written and electronic environments and moreover, we will examine the fundamental frame of the cultural background of this motif. Firstly, we will look at the place of legend, motifs, and the dragon motif in other cultures, later looking at the dragon motif in Anatolian Turkish legends. When we review the fundamentals of the cultural elements of the dragon motif, we will specifically provide information about the beliefs and thougts of Turks. With this method, we may able to see changes of dragon motif from past to today in parallel to Turkish civilization. Moreover, the dragon motif based on Stith Thompson's Motif Index of Folk Literature will be compared to motifs of different world cultures. Lastly, reviewed dragon motifs will be scrutinized from the perspectives of cultural life and cultural economy and how they could be used in the mentioned field. It is the third dimension of folklore, that is, supporting of updating folkloric production and representing it to the market in a renewed state will be attempted.