Discourse Analysis of Silenced Voices in Risāla-yi Dilgushā and Akhlāq al-Ashrāf: A New Historicist Approach

Document Type : Persian Research Article

Authors

1 Professor of the Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Candidate, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Among literary works, the treatises of Ubayd Zakani, due to their critical and satirical approach, offer extensive potential for re-examining the social and cultural structures of their time. Despite numerous studies on satire and social criticism in Ubayd's works, the representation of silenced voices and marginalized groups in the treatises Risāla-yi Dilgushā (The Delightful Treatise) and Akhlāq al-Ashrāf (The Ethics of the Nobility) has rarely been examined from the perspective of discourse analysis and New Historicism. Therefore, the present study aims to conduct a discourse analysis of silenced voices in these two works and to clarify their relationship with power structures and the dominant ideology. This research employs a qualitative approach, utilizing Foucauldian discourse analysis within the theoretical framework of New Historicism. The findings indicate that Ubayd, through employing devices such as satire, irony, and inversion, exposes the mechanisms of erasure, exclusion, and silencing, while representing voices that have rarely found expression in official political, social, and religious discourses. This reading reveals layers of meaning that have often been overlooked in purely moral or social interpretations, and demonstrates how the text becomes an arena for the contestation of discourses of power and resistance. Reading Ubayd Zakani's works from this perspective shows that satire functions as a mechanism for uncovering the silenced aspects of the text and critiquing power relations and the dominant ideology; moreover, it enables a deeper understanding of power dynamics and ideological structures.

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References

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History

  • Receive Date: 21 March 2026
  • Revise Date: 22 May 2026
  • Accept Date: 22 May 2026
  • Publish Date: 05 June 2026

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