A critical discourse analysis of Risalat al-Huquq of Imam Ali al-Sajjad (P. B. U. H)‎

Abstract EN

This study applies the field Critical Discourse Analysis (henceforth, CDA) for the analysis of Risalat Al-Huquq "Treatise on Rights" of Imam Ali Al-Sajjad (p.b.u.h.) (henceforth, RH).

It is an initial effort to come across the following aims: (1) Describing the linguistic representation of the text under study.

(2) Interpreting the text under study by highlighting four interpretative procedures, namely, situational context, intertextuality, speech acts, and schemata.

(3) Explaining the ideologies that are conveyed in the text under study.

In order to accomplish these aims, it is hypothesised that: (1) the linguistic representation reveals the constituting ideologies of the text under study.

(2) The observed interpretative procedures show that: (a) The purpose behind the construction of RH is an efficacious one.

(b) The texts that are reflected in the text under study are mostly concerned with the issue of rights whether directly or indirectly.

(c) Having an instructive nature, the text under study figures the use of directive speech acts in addition to other types of speech acts which accord with its minor concerns.

(d) RH has a didactic form.

(3) RH's ideology is multidimensional attentive to moral, social considerations and a collection of other considerations.

To investigate these hypotheses the next procedures are adopted: (1) Presenting a brief account of CDA.

(2) Discussing the model adopted.

(3) Analysing the text selected.

Finally, the results of the analysis verify the hypotheses set for the study.

Keywords: rights, critical discourse analysis, intertextuality, situational context, transitivity, modality, speech acts, schemata.