Narrating Survival: Syriac Oral Legends as Sacred Memory in South-eastern Turkiye

The article explores fourteen oral legends from the Syriac Christian communities of Mardin and the Tur Abdin region in southeastern Turkey, analyzing them as vital expressions of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Drawing from interdisciplinary approaches in folklore studies, cultural memory theory, and heritage discourse, the study examines how these narratives function as tools for preserving identity, shaping sacred geography, and conveying communal values amid historical marginalization. The legends center around monastic figures such as Saint Gabriel and Mor Abay, and address themes like miracle, martyrdom, gender transformation, interfaith negotiation, and the sacralization of space. Narratives like the miraculous gender transformation of a child or the resurrection of the dead illustrate how storytelling serves as a medium for theological imagination and symbolic resistance. Using qualitative methods, including ethnographic interviews and narrative analysis, the research reveals how these oral stories operate as living repositories of spiritual meaning, historical memory, and ethical guidance. This study contends that Syriac oral traditions are not static relics of the past but dynamic cultural systems that actively mediate identity, belief, and survival. In doing so, it emphasizes the urgency of safeguarding endangered narrative traditions, especially in contexts where minority languages and religious communities face increasing threats to continuity.