Literature and folklore
researcher (b. 20 March 1939 - according to his calculation, 28 February, Meram
/ Konya). He has used Sadi Dirlik and Ahmet Eskişehirligil as pen names in some
of his reviews and Sencer Sakarya in his poems. His father, Hafız Mehmet
Sakaoğlu was a calligrapher (1975).
He attended Hakimiyet-i Milliye Primary School (1951) and graduated from Konya
High School (1959), İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Department of
Turkish Language and Literature (1965) and the Çapa School of Advanced Teacher
Training (1965) as a boarder. His doctorate thesis was Gümüşhane
Masalları / Metin Toplama ve Tahlil (Gümüşhane Fairy Tales/
Text Collection and Analysis, 1971) His associate professorship thesis was Anadolu-Türk Efsanelerinde Taş Kesilme Motifi ve Bu
Efsanelerin Tip Kataloğu (Petrified
Patterns in Anatolian Turkish Legends and the Medicinal Catalogue
of These Epics, 1977) and his professorship thesis was Senin Aşkınla / Kadirlili Âşık Halil Karabulut (With
Your Love / The Poet from Kadirli, Halil Karabulut, 1988). He served as an
deputy teacher at Kasımpaşa Primary School (1964) and a teacher of Turkish
language and literature at Tokat Gazi Osmanpaşa High School and the Commercial
High School (1965/67). He served for 21 years at Atatürk University, Faculty of
Literature, Chair of Folkloric Literature (1967-88). Afterwards, he served as
the Vice Dean of Selçuk University when he transferred to the Faculty of Arts
and Science of this university from Ankara (1988-94). He is still a faculty
member at the university.
His first articles were published in the
humorous review Matrak and the school review Özlem (1959) from
1957. In the following years, his articles, reviews and poems were published in
the reviews, Yeni Konya, Öz Demokrat Konya,
Anahtar (Ankara), Çağrı, Türk Folklor Araştırmaları,
Adımlar, Türk Kültürü, Türk Edebiyatı, Yağmur, Millî Kültür, Töre, Türk
Folkloru, Yeni Düşünce, Tarla, Türk Dili, Dolunay, Türk Yurdu, Türklük
Araştırmaları Dergisi, Makedonski Folklor, Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Demos etc.
About 50 papers of his have been published at
scientific conventions. He has written articles for several encyclopedias. (Türk Dili
ve Edebiyatı Ansiklopedisi (Turkish Language and Literature
Encyclopedia), Türk Aile Ansiklopedisi (Turkish Family Encyclopedia), TDV
İslâm Ansiklopedisi (The Turkish Foundation for Religious Affairs), İstanbul
Ansiklopedisi (İstanbul Encyclopedia), Kadın Ansiklopedisi (Women’s
Encyclopedia), etc. In 1973, he won the first award of the
newspaper Tercüman in the genre of review. In the same year, he won the
first award from the same newspaper with his work, Atatürk ve Türk Dili
(Atatürk and the Turkish Language). In 1982 he won the Folklore Man of the Year
Award given by the Kayseri Artists Union, in 1985 the İhsan Hançer Award and in
1990 the İş Bank Grand Award. He is a member of the Turkish Culture Research
Institute, the Turkish Language Association Science and Executive Council, the
Professional Association of Scientific and Literary Work Owners of Turkey and
the Folklore Research Foundation.
WORKS:
RESEARCH: Gümüşhane Masalları / Metin Toplama ve Tahlil (Gümüşhane
Fairy Tales/ Text Collection and Analysis, 1973), Sarı Çiçek / Sivaslı Aşık Kul Gazi (Yellow Flower/ Sivaslı Kul
Gazi, Minstrel from Sivas 1980),
Anadolu-Türk Efsanelerinde Taş Kesilme Motifi ve Bu Efsanelerin Tip Katalogu (Petrified
Motifs in Anatolian Turkish Legends and the Medicinal Catalogue of these
Legends, 1980), Azerbaycan Aşıkları ve El
Şairleri I-II (Azerbaijan Poets and Tribe Poets I-II 1985-86, with A. B.
Alptekin ve E. Şimşik), Dadaloğlu (Dadaloğlu
1986), Ercişli Emrah (Emrah from
Erciş, 1987), Senin Aşkınla / Kadirlili
Aşık Halil Karabulut (With Your Love/ Poet Halil Karabulut from Kadirli
1987), Bayburtlu Zihni (Bayburtlu
Zihni 1988), Dadaloğlu Bibliyografyası (Bibliography
of Dadaloğlu 1988), Bayburtlu Zihni
Bibliyografyası (Bibliography of Bayburtlu Zihni 1990, with A. B. Alptekin), Atatürk Gençlik ve Kültür (Atatürk,
Youth and the Culture 1990), Türkmen Halk
Masalları (Turkmen Folk Tales 1991, with M. Ergun), Folklor Bibliyografyaları Bibliyografyası Üzerine Bir Deneme (An
Essay on the Bibliography of Folkloric Bibliographies 1991), Azerbaycan Tapmacaları / Bilmeceleri (Azerbaijan Worship/Riddles
1992, with Alptekin and Şimşek), Türk
Fıkraları ve Nasreddin Hoca (Turkish Fables and Nasreddin Hoca 1992), Hikâye-i Garibe (A Story of a Strange
Event, 1992, with A. Sevgi), Efsane
Araştırmaları (Legend Research 1992),
Hurşit ile Mahmihri Hikâyesi / İnceleme ve Metin (The Tale of Hurşit and
Mahmiri / Research and Text, with Ali Duymaz, 1996), Proben VIII (Proben VII,
Introduction and text quotation, 1997),
Meddah Behçet Mahir'in Bütün Hikâyeleri I -II (All Stories of Meddah*
Behçet Mahir I-II Vol. 1: 1997, Vol. 2: 1999; with A.B. Alptekin, E. Şimşek and
Y. Sakaoğlu), Dede Korkud Kitabı (The
Book of Dede Korkut, research and collection, 2 volumes, 1998), 80. Doğum Yılında Ahmet Tufan Şentürk (Ahmet
Tufan Şentürk on the 80th anniversary of his Birth 1999), Masal Araştırmaları (Folk Tale Research 1999), İslâmiyet Öncesi Türk Destanları (Pre-Islamic Turkish Epics, with
Ali Duymaz, 2002).
He
has also prepared compilations.
