The early Turkish epic tradition is relatively understudied, and many existing works focus on using Turkish epics to reconstruct earlier eras without fully understanding their role in the period from which the manuscripts date. Using a translation of Battalname based on the earliest fifteenth and sixteenth century manuscripts, and a translation of two sixteenth century manuscripts of The Book of Dede Korkut , this work examines the social context of Turkish literature in Anatolia in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as well as its relation to the social world of epic society. A memory studies framing is used to situate the works and understand their role as a fifteenth and sixteenth century depiction of the past. Chapters are devoted to the role of literature in society, including circulation and reading practices, creation of Turkish literature and the vernacularization process, as well as to the role of women, men and gender, and to the structure and political significance of the family.