Abstract
ANALYSIS OF THE TONYUKUK INSCRIPTIONS IN TERMS OF NARRATIVE DEVICES
The Tonyukuk Inscriptions, located in the Baín-Tsokto region, hence also known as the Baín-Tsokto Inscriptions, were erected by Bilge Tonyukuk in the first half of the 8th century. The inscriptions have come to the fore with their historical value and have been examined in terms of linguistic features, even if it is mentioned that they have a literary quality. As an example of the narrative history genre, although the historical narrative seems to be in the foreground, the narrative has been deliberately constructed because it was written to make the reader adopt a certain thesis. The composition was determined from the very beginning, and it was not messy thanks to a tight plot. Since Bilge Tonyukuk, the author of the inscriptions, is also the narrator and main character of the narrative, the text can be considered as a "historiographic autobiography/fictional autobiography". In the inscriptions, elements such as plot, narrator, people, and setting are conspicuously processed in a way that serves to reveal and emphasize the message of the text.
Keywords
Bilge Tonyukuk, inscription, history, narrative, fiction.