Politeness in Imam Ali's Letter to Malik al-Ashtar
Other Title(s)
التأديب في رسالة الإمام علي (عليه السلام) إلى مالك الأشتر
Author
Mirza, Ramiyah Fuad Abd al-Aziz
Source
Issue
Vol. 2017, Issue 33 (31 Dec. 2017), pp.55-68, 14 p.
Publisher
University of Kufa Faculty of Arts
Publication Date
2017-12-31
Country of Publication
Iraq
No. of Pages
14
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Politeness is a clear enough pragmatic concept that has been dealt with extensively from various points of view.
This commonness brings to the forefront the impression that there might be nothing new to add to the topic when a paper makes its appeal to attempt it recently.
However, this paper endeavors to prove something different.
This is supported by observing that there do exist certain contexts where politeness plays a subsidiary (or no) role in communication (be it written or spoken).
The most readily cited example is the institutional contexts whereby issuing an official punishment, for instance, has nothing to do with politeness.
Yet, this should not lead to the over-hasty conclusion that such contexts are impolite; it is just that politeness is employed in a rather peculiar way.
It is this peculiarity on which the present paper rests.
More specifically, this work traces the way by which Imam Ali, being the super-ordinate ruler, makes, when issuing letters to address his coordinate rulers, certain alignments between being authoritative and polite at the same time.
This alignment is mostly highlighted when noticing that politeness, in one of its instantiations, involves giving the addressee options, whereas authority impedes this freedom.
As such, in certain positions, Imam Ali issues mitigated commands to Malik, in other cases, he uses direct counterparts.
That is, the strategies of politeness in the aforementioned letter vary according to the issue being discussed, and not according to the addressee himself.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Mirza, Ramiyah Fuad Abd al-Aziz. 2017. Politeness in Imam Ali's Letter to Malik al-Ashtar. Kufa Journal of Arts،Vol. 2017, no. 33, pp.55-68.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-795706
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Mirza, Ramiyah Fuad Abd al-Aziz. Politeness in Imam Ali's Letter to Malik al-Ashtar. Kufa Journal of Arts No. 33 (2017), pp.55-68.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-795706
American Medical Association (AMA)
Mirza, Ramiyah Fuad Abd al-Aziz. Politeness in Imam Ali's Letter to Malik al-Ashtar. Kufa Journal of Arts. 2017. Vol. 2017, no. 33, pp.55-68.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-795706
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Text in English ; abstracts in English and Arabic.
Record ID
BIM-795706