AN EVALUATION ON THE PLACE OF EPIC TRADITION IN MINSTREL STYLE OF MINSTREL MUSTAFA BAL

Minstrel Mustafa Bal was born in E？ridere village of ？aykara/Tranzon in 1932. Mustafa Bal whom we can characterize as the minstrel without reads began to produce and tell epic in 1947. Mustafa Bal, who was illiterate learned to read and write by military service. After returning from military service, he started to sell the epics he produced in one press. Until 1969, when he went to Holland as a laborer, he made a living by producing epic in the years when he was abroad and after he returned, he tried to harmonize with the electronic cultural enviroments emerging in the direction of technological developments, he marketed his epics by reading the tapes. Mustafa Bal who is little-known but important representative of written cultural environment epic, has a wide epic repertoire. The minstrel, whose the first epic was “Love Epic” with love theme, written in 1947, began to diversify the issues according to the conditions of the day and so, the expectations of the customers after printing his epics in a single sheet in the press and selling them in markets. He produced epics on almost every subject like political, military, economic, religious, social. In this study, which obtained from verbal and written sources Minstrel Mustafa Bal, was evaluated on the points of the place in the minstrel style of epic tradition, his performance features, and the features and genre of epic that he produced. In evaluations made, it was concluded that Minstrel Mustafa Bal was an important epicist who could be evaluated in minstrel style of epic tradition