MASALLARDA TOPLUMSAL NORMLAR BAĞLAMINDA ADALET VE CEZA KAVRAMI

Abstract

This study examines how the themes of justice and punishment in fairy tales are constructed as reflections of social norms. The aim of the research is to reveal the mechanisms through which justice is achieved in fairy tale texts, the values reinforced through the depictions of crime and the criminal, and the ways in which punishment is presented both formally and symbolically. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on selected Turkish fairy tales, and the themes were categorized and interpreted within folkloric and sociocultural contexts. The findings indicate that honesty, patience, courage, and self-sacrifice are rewarded in the tales, while envy, deceit, trickery, cruelty, and unjust rule are punished through various symbolic or actual sanctions. Furthermore, punishments are often carried out through supra-individual forces such as social conscience, fate, or divine justice, and tend to have an instructive and symbolic character. In conclusion, fairy tales do not offer a legal, but rather a strong moral-adaptive conception of justice, reproducing the society’s normative values and instilling socially accepted behavioral models in individuals