A Study on Interaction and Correlation of Folk Literature and Vernacular Architecture: The Reflection of Rural Architecture on Oral Literature of Azerbaijan

Folk Culture represents behavior, customs and traditions of people based on their material and spiritual needs. It reflects the context of people's life and their interaction with the natural environment. Vernacular architecture is formed by local people based on their interaction with the environment, their customs and local techniques. This research aims to find mutual relationships between vernacular rural architecture and oral literature or folklore of one of the varied ethnic cultures of Iran, the Azerbaijan region. Initially, more than 2500 verses, proverbs, puzzles, etc. in Azeri language were studied and those ones which have described and visualized the features of local rural vernacular architecture were analysed. Later, after field surveys of a number of stepped villages, the reflection of characteristics of the village such as villages' tissue, natural environment, common spaces, houses and details and structures, on the visualization of the verses is presented. As a conclusion, it seems that the spaces and details of houses as the heart of life has the most abundance in verses. The results of this research have represented the strong bonds between each space of the village, the flow of life and the folk culture linked to it that is visualized in oral literature. Therefore a comprehensive approach toward the folk culture can conserve the mutual relationships between people, their traditions, and their vernacular built environment. This research has a qualitative method based on the library study of Azeri folklore and field survey of stepped villages in Azerbaijan.