Manas Destanı’nda Irçı Oğul ve Görevleri

Besides being an important product of Kirghiz folk literature, the Epic of Manas is the treasure of the entire Turkic World in terms of its historical and cultural value. In this epic, it is possible to see the traditions and customs of the Turks, their perceptions of the past, the values they attach importance to, and their cultural and artistic characteristics. Poets, who are of great value for Turkic music history and Turkic folk literature, are also included in the Manas Epic. The leading one among these poets is Irçı Oğul who is one of the prominent characters of the epic. Determining the duties undertaken by Irçı Oğul as a poet is the fundamental aim of this study. In this descriptive study, various variants and publications of the Epic of Manas were used. At the end of the study, it was determined that Irçı Oğul had the duties of making an announcement (herald), journalism, en-tertaining, giving encouragement, praising/praising, lamenting, and saying testaments, and examples of these duties were richly included in the Manas Epic. The results reveal the importance of poets for Turkish society and emphasize the position of music in Turk’s life.