A Cross-Linguistic Exploration Of Tense And Modality in Two Different Narrations Of The Hercules Myth (Herkül Mitinin İki Farklı Anlatımında Zaman ve Kipselliğin Karşılaştırmalı Dilbilimsel İncelemesi)

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to conduct a cross-linguistic exploration of tense and modality across two distinct accounts of the same mythological tale (of Hercules's 12 Labors) as retold by Edith Hamilton (in English) and Azra Erhat (in Turkish) and to investigate how the variation in the use of these elements in narration has influenced the construction and positioning of the 'hero' with regard to factuality/ counter-factuality of the subject as well as the other emergent features of it. Regarded among the main semantic-grammatical categories of language, tense and modality mark the event reconstructed in narration in terms of its time and propositional status, respectively. Despite a lack of consensus on the definitions of related ter­minology, a commonly agreed view on the functions of modality emphasizes that modality expresses the author's subjective commitment to the event, carrying the event to the realms of irrealis. Growing interest and extended debates on the subject has aroused a need for further evidence on how these categories work in narrations across different languages and how they may be valued in language teaching. To this end, the current study undertakes a contrastive linguistic analysis of tense and modality in two texts identifying the sets of verbs and adverbs used by two different authors to depict the same labors of Hercules. The results indicate to a divergence in the emergent images of the hero, one being a flawless and unmatchable subjec­tivity located within the borders of factuality and the other a humanized person in counter-factuality. From this, suggestions on how to utilize such contrastive linguistic studies to raise the awareness of language learners towards the functions of tense and modality is also addressed. Keywords: Cross-linguistic analysis, Narrative analysis, Modality, Language Teaching OZET Bu calismanin amaci, ayni mitolojik oykunun (Herakles'in 12 isi) Edith Hamilton ve Azra Erhat tarafindan Ingilizce ve Turkce olarak anlatilan iki farkli versiyonunda zaman ve kipselligi diller arasi bir odaktan arastirmak ve bu iki unsurun kullani­mindaki farkliliklarin, kahramanin gerceklik/ gercek-disilik ve ortaya cikan diger ozellikleri bakimindan olusturulup konumlandirilmasinda hangi etkileri oldugunu incelemektir. Dilin ana anlamsal-dilbilgisel kategorileri arasinda yer alan zaman ve kipsellik, oykulemede yeniden olusturulan olayi, sirasiyla zaman ve onerme durumlari acilarindan niteler. Ilgili terimler dizgesinde bir uzlasi olmamasina ragmen kipselligin islevleri uzerine genel olarak kabul goren anlayisa gore kipsellik anlaticinin olaya oznel baglanimini ifade ederken ayni zamanda olayi gercek disiliga da tasimaktadir. Yapilan diller arasi arastirmalar gercekdisiligin, pek cok dilde kipselligin yani sira cesitli zaman-gorunus bilesimleriyle de ifade edildigine isaret etmektedir. Konuya iliskin artan ilgi ve suregelen tartismalar, bu kategorilerin farkli dillerdeki anlatilarda nasil isleyis gosterdigine dair daha fazla bulguya ve karsilastirmali calismalarin dil ogretiminde nasil kullanilabilecegine iliskin goruse ihtiyac duyuldugunu ortaya koymaktadir. Bu ihtiyac dogrultusunda bu calismada soz konusu iki metinde ayni isleri betimlemek icin kullanilan eylemler ve belirtecler saptanarak karsilastirmali dilsel bir odaktan incelenmektedir. Sonuclar, ayni oykunun farkli anlatislarinda biri gerceklik sinirlari icinde olusturulmus kusursuz ve kiyas kabul etmez digeri gerceklik sinirlari disina tasinmis insansi iki farkli kahraman imgesinin ortaya ciktigina isaret etmektedir. Buradan hareketle, benzer karsilastirmali dilsel calismalarin yabanci dil ogrenenlerin dil islevlerine olan farkindaligini arttirmak icin nasil kullanilabilecegi konusunda onerilerde bulunulmaktadir. Anahtar sozcukler: Karsilastirmali dilsel inceleme, Oyku incelemesi, Kipsellik, Yabanci Dil Ogretimi