Document Type : Persian Research Article
Author
Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Kosar University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran.
10.22034/lda.2026.146348.1160
Abstract
Maqālāt-e Shams, one of the most significant works of classical Persian Sufi literature, is not merely a reflection of mystical experience or spiritual teachings; rather, it constitutes a discursive space in which identity is constructed, epistemic authority is legitimized, and the boundaries between the Self and the Other are delineated. In mystical discourse, epistemic authority is not grounded solely in intuitive experience but is also established and reproduced through linguistic and discursive strategies. Accordingly, explaining how truth, identity, and authority are constructed in such texts is a central concern of discourse analytical studies of mystical literature. This study investigates the representation of the Self and the Other and the mechanisms through which identity and epistemic authority are constructed in Maqālāt-e Shams. The study adopts Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Teun A. van Dijk’s Ideological Square as its theoretical framework. The data consist of ten selected narratives analyzed based on the four strategies of the Ideological Square—emphasizing positive Self-presentation, de-emphasizing positive Other-presentation, emphasizing negative Other-presentation, and de-emphasizing negative Self-presentation—as well as seven semantic strategies: categorization, polarization, generalization, distancing, implicature, hyperbole, and counterfactuality. The findings show that Shams’s discourse systematically constructs the Self as the legitimate source of truth, knowledge, and value, while representing the Other as epistemically and evaluatively inferior. Furthermore, the interaction between micro-level semantic strategies and the Ideological Square reinforces identity boundaries and legitimizes epistemic authority within the mystical discourse.
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