INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH IN PHILOLOGICAL SCIENCES I

Abstract

Providing social order, establishing of state continuity, and obeying religious rules require individuals to fulfill some responsibilities for others and the society they live in. As a statement tool for a nation’s identity, values, lifestyle, change and transformation, written texts also occasionally mention these responsibilities. Based on this context, our study is based on the Gokturk, Uighur, and Karakhanid Turkish periods and how the understanding of social responsibility is reflected in the texts are examined. How the term “responsibility” is reflected in the behaviors of the Khagan, administrators, and other individuals are addressed in this paper under different headlines. It will be discussed from which resources the related virtue received its sanction power. How not fulfilling the social obligations caused different outcomes in terms of both the individuals and the whole society, and how these outcomes were included in the texts are determined. Considering that the researched artworks belong to different cultures and civilizations, it is questioned whether the understanding of responsibility has changed over time. Since the first known Turkish language texts, the Orkhon Inscriptions, were discovered, these texts with a wide diversity today have reached a wide audience. These works of art, which span a wide range of subjects from gravestones, and legal documents, to religious beliefs, doctrines, and fortune-telling books, provide us information regarding perspectives of life and cultural and traditional perceptions of people of the era. Establishing a healthy social network depends on the relations between the individual and the society. At this phase, there is a mutual setting. A person who behaves according to the criteria determined by religious and moral norms, as well as legislative rules, preserves the social structure of society by ensuring the continuity of these elements; likewise, a person who turns away from these mentioned behavioral criteria may change the society’s perception over time. A nation’s written and verbal outcomes are important elements that reflect that nation’s social values. As a carrier of culture, language does not only reflect the reasons for the emergence of these value-based behaviors; but also asserts that their causes change over time even these behaviors maintain their continuity in the same way as well. Therefore, questions such as “Which basic principles are used to evaluate the behaviors of an individual toward other individuals of the society?”, “What are the evaluation principles other than the universal principles of goodness?”, “What is the scope of the outcomes for people who do not obey those rules?” can find answers in the historical texts. Turkish historical texts also provide data to form a framework on this subject. Turks, who have had intense political and social mobility in a relatively short period of time, quickly accommodated themselves to their new beliefs and culture circles. The integration of national character and principles with basic social principles of new belief systems at many points has affected that situation. The responsibility felt for other individuals and society discussed while examining the subject varies according to the individual’s social positioning. Liabilities of the statesmen and the public are the same; therefore, our study includes headlines that reflect the situations of different social positions.