Stories hidden in manuscripts :|Bâkî and his poetry through the manuscripts of his divan

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the kaside (ode) and musammat sections in 25 manuscript copies of Bâkî’s divan, which were composed before the poet’s death. By examining these poems, the thesis aims to collect data on the definition and function of kaside and its structure by focusing on the changes of the Bâkî’s kasides. It thereby shows that the data on the poet and his poetry can be obtained by evaluating the manuscript copies composed during Bâkî’s lifetime. This thesis consists of five chapters, in addition to the “Introduction” and “Conclusion”, there are three main sections: The second includes a discussion on the definition of kaside and the limits of this definition by focusing on the poems in various forms in the kaside sections of Bâkî’s divan copies. The third discusses functions of the kasides beyond conveying a demand by looking at their circulation process within the manuscripts. In the fourth chapter, kasides in all manuscripts were digitally transcribed as preserved on the manuscript copies. Then the data was compared and some possible choices of the poet were identified and sampled. All discussions were supported by information from the poet’s life and close readings of his poems. A table on the manuscripts and another one that shows the order of the kasides in manuscripts included in this study are available in Appendix B and Appendix C.