Birth Mother and Stepmother in Hizan (Bitlis) Fairy Tales

Fairy tales are one of the oral narrative genres that transmit the value judgments, cultural codes, morality, roles and stereotypes of men and women from generation to generation.In this genre, which is rich in imaginary and extraordinary features, heroes are humans, animals and supernatural beings.This study focuses on the representations of birth mother and stepmother figures in fairy tales commonly known in Hizan district of Bitlis province. Eighteen fairy tale examples were used in the study. It is possible to list the fairy tales used for the study as follows: Edlê û Ebbas, Dirkê, Herdemcan, Hespa Xwelîyê, Mîrza Miheme û Şêx Sînem, Ehmedê Beyrema, Mîrza Miheme û Qîza Qarqarê Çînê, Şengê Pêngê Alîçengê, Şengê Pengê, Zengilo Mengilo, Çêleka Zêrî, Fatma Xanim û Lêvreş, Dêmarî, Eyşê û Mamê Hirç, Dara Leyl û Reqqasê, Kalikê Têş, Mîrza Miheme, Nîsko. The primary condition for the study was that these fairy tales should have mother and/or stepmother characters. Content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The aim of the study is to reveal how these two female figures are frequently encountered in the fairy tales specific to the Hizan region. In general, stepmothers are jealous, malicious, mistreating their stepchildren and self-interested characters, while birth mothers are compassionate, caring, protective, sacrificial and selfless characters. The most striking finding in this study is that in some cases, birth mothers may exhibit negative attitudes towards the children of others and turn into negative figures. These mothers appear in fairy tales as witches. This situation is important in terms of showing that the mother figure in fairy tales is not fixed but variable.