Explaining the critical metaphors of the mythological part of Shahnameh

An important strategy in rhetoric for linguistic legitimacy in discourse analysis,critical metaphor identifies the goals and ideologies that create the meaning in language. The stories of the mythological part of Shahnameh, from Kiomars to Kaykhosrow, which fall in the ideological context of the discourse, are included in this type of analysis in order to extract the infrastructure of linguistic meanings from them. The aim of the present study is to explain how Ferdowsi used language to produce the infrastructure and reproduce the power- relations which create discourse, and what linguistic strategy he uses through which discourse is constructed. To achieve this goal, this research, which is analytical-descriptive based on library resources, uses the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis based on Norman Fairclough's approach. The results of the research suggest that Ferdowsi through the use of characterization that forms his metaphors has been able to construct the discursive infrastructures and discourse-creating power-relations in both institutional and social processes. The metaphors used by Ferdowsi are integrated into a classification scheme that reflects his intellectual position and class perspective in defense of the structures of society and the values underlying them. What helps to understand the metaphors of the text are important assumptions about the formal features that link the metaphors to the social values and power relations of the hidden text. Identifying critical metaphors such as Farrah (grandure), cow, Fereydoun and Kaykhosrow, Zahak and Afrasiab helps to discover meanings beyond the linguistic level and increases critical awareness of the role of language in maintaining and changing the social relations of discourse.