In this study, the clusters of couplets concerning separation in Kutadgu Bilig are examined in terms of their structural, thematic, and functional relations with the genre of Firâknâme. Taking into account the historical and semantic development of the concept of separation in Turkish, it is demonstrated that separation in the work acquires different manifestations within the contexts of exile, death, seclusion, and the dialectic of separation (firāq) and reunion (wiṣāl). In particular, the independent clusters of couplets devoted to separation are evaluated according to the criteria identified for the firâknâme genre, such as being grounded in a sergüzeşt (adventure narrative), and containing memoiristic and autobiographical elements, as well as in terms of their affinities with elegy and mersiye. Within this framework, these couplets are shown to display the characteristics of a firâknâme; while the work itself, although not directly a firâknâme, is demonstrated to be a multilayered early literary text incorporating elements of this genre and open to reinterpretation in terms of intergeneric relations. In this context, the study aims to contribute to scholarship on generic diversity and intergeneric relations in early Turkish literature.

Kutadgu Bilig, separation, firaq, firâknâme, intergeneric relations