The Problem of Population Exchange, Mübadele through Deer Myths: A Greek Village in Anatolia, Livera

Abstract

In Anatolian and Turkish culture, since Shamanic times, deer has often been considered as sacred, rather than a game animal. Through this perspective, many deer-related narratives were formed and became a part of the folklore. This motif can also be seen in the modern narratives of Turkish literature. Necati Cumalı’s play, Yaralı Geyik (The Wounded Deer, 1979) based on a folk ballad, tells the story of a deer hunt and the curse of that deer upon people. Another example, Murathan Mungan’s play, Geyikler ve Lanetler (Deer and Curses, 1992) again nourished by folkloric tradition, focuses on a curse caused by a deer that is hunted during her pregnancy. This article focuses on a more contemporary narrative, Yusuf Bulut’s story Livera Geyikleri (The Deer of Livera, 2011) which uses the same pattern too. However this time a new element is added considering the ‘function’ of the myth, stressing a socio-historical problem, which is mübadele. For the population exchange between the Greek and Turkish people in 1923 shows itself as the main thematic concern in The Deer of Livera, how the story benefits from the possibilities of myth will be questioned in the article and an English translation of the story will be presented.