Âşıklık geleneği, Türk kültür dairesinde önemli bir yer tutmaktadır ve Türklerin edebi birikimleri dahilinde yüzyıllar öncesinden günümüze kadar sözlü ve yazılı kültür ortamlarında varlığını sürdüren canlı bir gelenektir Âşıklar, içinde bulundukları toplumun dünya görüşünü, sanat zevkini, yaşam düzenini ve beraberinde de geleneklerini yansıtan, yaşatan ve gelecek nesillere aktarılmasında köprü görevi gören, toplumun sözcüsü halk sanatçılarıdırlar. Geleneğe kadın âşıklar bağlamında bakıldığında ve tespit edilebildiği ölçüde 17. yüzyıldan günümüze kadar pek çok kadın âşık, âşıklık geleneği içinde sanatlarını icrâ etmişlerdir; ancak geleneğin birçok özelliğini (çıraklık, gezgin olma, âşık meclislerinde bulunma, vd.) yerine getirememiş; kadın âşıklar üzerine yapılan çalışmalar ise, daha çok yirminci yüzyılın son çeyreğinden itibaren ilgi çekici bir konu olarak algılanabilmiştir. Haklarında yeterli çalışmaların yapılmadığı kadın âşıklar, büyük ölçüde ihmale uğramışlardır. Âşıklık, bir erkek mesleği olarak düşünülmüş, erkek âşıkların dilinde "kadın" bir tema olarak oldukça geniş bir yer tutmuştur. Bu çalışmada, gelenek içinde adını duyuran kadın âşıkların ( Telli Suna, Özlemi, Sarıcakız, Didari, Şahturna, Selvinaz, Sürmelican ) türkülerinden yola çıkılarak, "konuşucu lirik kahraman"ın konumu hem özne, hem de nesne bağlamında ele alınmaya çalışılmıştır. Konuşucu-lirik kahraman kimliği ile kadın âşıkların "kadın"ı nasıl gördükleri emik bakış açısı ile değerlendirilmiştir. Böylece gelenek içinde tutunmuş olan kadın âşıkların toplumsal rolleri, bu rollerin neden olduğu problemler ortaya konulacak; bunun, onların sanatını etkileyip etkilemediği yine "konuşucu-lirik kahraman" kimliği ile onlar tarafından açıklık kazanmış olacaktır.

The Minstrelsy (Âşıklık) tradition has an important place in the Turkish culture and is a live tradition which continues its existence in verbal and written cultural media from centuries ago until today. Minstrels are folk artists who act as a society spokesman, reflect the world view, taste of art, life order and traditions of the society, maintain them and serve as a bridge to pass them down to the future generations. When the tradition is considered regarding woman minstrels, and to the extent they are determined, many woman minstrels have performed their art within the minstrelsy tradition since 17th century; however, they have not been able to perform many aspects of the tradition (apprenticeship, traveler, being in the assemblies of minstrels etc); the studies on woman minstrels have been of more interest since the last quarter of the twentieth century. Woman minstrels about whom there have been inadequate studies have been considerably neglected. Minstrelsy has been seen as a man’s profession and “woman” as a theme has been widely used by the male minstrels. In the present study, starting from the folk songs of the well-known woman minstrels (like Telli Suna, Özlemi, Sarıca Kız, Didari, Şahturna, Selvinaz, Sürmelican and so on), the position of the “narrator-lyric hero” will be examined both as a subject and an object. How woman minstrels see “woman” as a narrator-lyric hero will be discussed from an ethical point of view. The social roles of woman minstrels in the tradition and the problems caused by these roles will be presented; it will also be revealed whether this affects their art as a “narrator-lyric hero” The Minstrelsy (Âşıklık) tradition has an important place in Turkish culture and is a live tradition which continues its existence in verbal and written cultural media from centuries ago until today. Minstrels (Âşık) are folk artists who act as a society spokesperson,. They reflect the world view of that society, their, art preferences, life order and traditions of the society. They maintain them and also serve as a bridge to pass them down to the future generations. When the tradition is considered regarding woman minstrels, and to the extent they are determined, many woman minstrels have performed their art within the minstrelsy tradition since 17th century. However, they have not been able to perform many aspects of the tradition (apprenticeship, traveler, being in the assemblies of minstrels etc.).The studies on woman minstrels have been of more interest since the last quarter of the twentieth century. Woman minstrels about whom there have been inadequate studies have been considerably neglected. Minstrelsy has been seen as a man’s profession and “woman” as a theme has been widely used by the male minstrels. In the present study, starting from the folk songs of the well-known woman minstrels (like Telli Suna, Özlemi, Sarıca Kız, Didari, Şahturna, Selvinaz, Sürmelican and so on), the position of the “narrator-lyric hero” has beenexamined both as a subject and an object. How woman minstrels as narrators-lyric heroessee “woman” has been discussed from an epic point of view. The social roles of woman minstrels in the tradition and the problems caused by these roles will be presented; it will also be revealed whether this affects their art as a “narrator-lyric hero”. The minstrels, who are representatives of the minstrelsy tradition, keep the tradition alive by maintaining their knowledge about the folk literature dating back to centuries ago in the verbal, written and electronic media, and become the spokespeople of the society which they represent along with their poetry and music. The expressions such as “the Minstrelsy tradition, “Minstrel-style culture”, “minstrel-style literature” emphasize minstrelsy, tradition and literature; the gender of the spokespeople who are the representatives of the tradition reveals itself in these definitions; however, the minstrels as the spokespeople of the tradition were thought to be men, therefore, the profession of “minstrelsy” was considered to be the man’s job; when “minstrelsy” like “literature” was related to the social gender practices, “women” were not considered much. This gender-based naming such as woman philosophers, woman writers, woman poets, woman painters, woman composers and woman minstrels reflects exclusion and marginalization. Although “woman minstrels” were not able to fulfill some characteristics of the tradition such as master-apprentice relationship, travelling and being in the assemblies of minstrels etc., they have held onto the tradition as “woman minstrels” from the seventeenth century until today and have tried to perform their arts. “Women” have become an object for the man minstrels, who are considered to be a subject, and found a big and productive place for themselves in the literature as a theme. Women have not been able to find a big place for themselves when compared to the examples of masculine language both as a subject/narrator (=lyric hero) and an object. How did female minstrels perceive themselves and their social roles? When the narrator/subject of poetry was a woman, how did she express the feminine experiences? It was not easy for the woman minstrels who were not allowed to play the saz and to recite poems to say “I am also here”, and the appearance of a woman minstrel on the stage is not directly proportional to the history of the tradition although minstrelstyle cultural tradition dates back to centuries. Existence of woman minstrels in the minstrelsy tradition is associated with how long women exist in the society and the proof of how long they exist as long as the tradition continues. A woman drawing attention to herself by bringing her feelings and thoughts into the forefront with her narrator/subject identity is not considered to be a normal “state of feminity” in a society based on privacy. It is not among the duties and roles of women to be amongst a poetic arena where the number of male minstrels outweighs the number of females in the social sphere. A woman can only take her place as a lover, spouse, mother and sister from the viewpoint dominant in the literature world. Female minstrels started to speak up and tried to make the male minstrels accept them with an effort to gain independence from the gender role the inequality of the tradition attributed to them and to show their reaction against this dominant masculine viewpoint. They even tried to prove they were superior to men. No matter what their social statuses are, women have always been the odd-one-out and the excluded one. The approach of social life to women is the “other” as in many places in the world. The thoughts about women since the creation of the world have been related to their fertility. Starting from the poems of the woman subjects, a woman is first a “mother”. Motherhood involves goodness, compassion, affection, and love. The role of motherhood strengthens the woman who is the symbol of birth. To give birth to a child, to raise a child is sacred and a pride for the homeland regarding the woman’s perception of motherhood. In a society in which a woman is a beloved not a minstrel, a poem not a poet, woman minstrels were condemned and reprimanded. Their travelling with a saz in their hands was not considered decent and they were despised. They were not able to fulfill the conditions of the tradition such as master/apprentice relationship, getting a nickname, drinking wine, dreaming, playing the saz, travelling and taking place in the assemblies of minstrels as their male colleagues were. Even the woman minstrels with higher education and in the business life were not welcomed to play the saz and read a poem. Most of the woman minstrels did not have the opportunity to go to school or complete their education. They were married off at a very young age, and most of them were not supported by their spouses. Conclusion Female minstrels, lyric heroes/narrators of poetry, are seen as a forgiving, patient notion of a gender, which faces up to difficulties, reproaches or reacts against and complains about disloyalty, ingratitude, coldness and infidelity. The poetry by women in which feminine feelings and thoughts, pains, poverty, difficulties, longings, silence, loneliness, and unanswered love are depicted opens out the inner world of the female minstrels, but does not show it clearly and completely. To formalize her own inner world with the language of a woman is becoming a state of feminity which a woman hesitates at. Therefore, the inside or emic perspective of women minstrels about women’s perceptions is an introverted look. This attitude causes women minstrels to be hesitant about their words and women’s perception of women to reduce. Female minstrels as representatives of the minstrelsy tradition are “women without gender” by the witness of their poetry. When the poems of these women who are the producers of their own poetry are considered with an emic approach, that is, an inside perspective, there is a mistake and injustice in teaching women the rituals of “being a woman”. Social gender as a cultural concept causes gender differences for the ones who produce language.. Even though civil history of women is tried to be written in the poetry of women minstrels from Derdimend Ana to Arzu Bacı, from Âşık Gülçınar to Telli Suna, from Âşık Yeter Ana, to Âşık Didari, from Âşık Sarıcakız to Âşık Özlemi, women cannot naturally be the subject of the public sphere when they cannot be a subject in the literature.