Milli Folklor

Traditional games have been among the basic elements of culture since the beginning of human history. Games have physical, biological, individual, social, and cultural aspects. At the origin of many games, there are rituals, ceremonies, and practices. Mythic elements can be seen through the verbal textures of the games. These features of the games have been remained in the background over time, and each game action has continued to exist as just a game, especially in the traditional world and socio-cultural structure of children. In addition, in some traditional games, the gameplay exhibits similar qualities with the mythical elements and revives the mythology. With all these features, the game is a cultural phenomenon that located outside of daily life but has functions for daily life. Traditional games embody the mythical accumulation and way of thinking of the community that accepts and plays that game as their own, in a way that is oriented towards real life. The mythical features of a play and functional interpretation of gameplay will show what the play means. These features of the games also stand out in the traditional games of the Turkic World. In this article, "Mor Menekşe, was chosen as the paradigm in terms of showing and exhibiting these features. The verbal texture and gameplay of the game were functionally examined within the context of myth and life. Firstly, the mythological origin and features, and life-related qualities of traditional games are stated. Then, the general features of “Mor Menekşe” were briefly mentioned and information about its verbal texture were given. Later, the features of the verbal texture of the game were specified in accordance with the Turkish mythical thought. In this paper, it is stated that the in-game rhyme of the “Mor Menekşe” game carries the views on nature and the universe of Turkish mythology, and it is stated that “Mor Menekşe” game has a symbolism related to plants and tree cult, and the verbal texture of the game has the symbolism of nature, life, unity, togetherness, abundance and fertility, chaos, and cosmos. Then, information about gameplay were given and examined, and through examination process, the game was handled in the relationship between the individual and the society, and based on the game, the individual's self-proofing, group belonging, cooperation with the group, relations between social groups were examined and a symbolic analysis of chaos and cosmos was conduct-ed. The mythical background of the game’s rhyme that function as battle of words in the verbal texture of the play is about life. And the gameplay is a rehearsal for the player's life. For this reason, the mythical meaning in the verbal texture and the interpretation of the real movements in the actions of the play were considered non-separate. The game has been analyzed in two parts, which are verbal texture and game-play, based on word and action. While determining the features in the verbal texture and gameplay, it has been classified depending on the situations that we can call "micro-cosmos" and "micro-chaos", which can be defined as the establishment and disruption of order at every stage. These features in the parts of the play depending on the word and movement have been associated with the establishment and disruption of the order, and have also been evaluated in relation to the mythical meaning. As a result, the game, shows the knowledge about life and nature in Turkish mythology both in its verbal texture and in its gameplay, and that the game is a rehearsal that functionally prepares people for life in terms of individual and social integrity with an accumulation that in Turkish culture.