فصلنامه پژوهش های ادبی - قرآنی
سال نهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 33، بهار 1400)

Although we expect the narration to be of the subsequent type, that is, the narration of an event after its occurrence, an examination of the narrative structures of some stories, relying on the narrative distance theory of Shlomith Raymond Kennan, proves that this is not always the case. The present descriptive-analytical study examined the Qur’anic stories using the aforementioned theory. The results show the existence of significant similarities and differences in the method of narrating Qur’anic stories with that of Rimmon Kenan's theory. Contrary to this theory, a noteworthy point in the stories that have narrated future events is that most of their events are expressed in the past tense, which indicates their certainty, and in the case of direct signs based on the distance of subsequent narrative, it is important to note that, although a long time has passed since the occurrence of some stories, they have been narrated in an artistic language. In indirect signs too, there are two main similarities between the narration of Qur’anic stories and the aforementioned theory. One is that sometimes the narrator, more or less, distances himself from the events, but, when necessary, enters the heart of the story, as in the stories of Prophet Yusuf (AS) and Prophet Musa (AS). Another point is that in the narration of some past events, present tense verbs have been used and the narrator intends to reduce the distance of the narration to immortalize the events and to create a sense of being present for the audience.

Among the doubts about the Holy Qur’an is the claim that some Qur’anic words-ending diacritics contradict the rules of Arabic literature but according to the theory of foregrounding, this kind of distinction of diacritical signs is not only a defect but one of the aspects of the beauty and rhetoric of the Holy Qur’an. Relying on exegeses, this analytical-descriptive study aimed to investigate the role of changing the style of words-ending diacritics and diacritical letters of the Holy Qur’an based on the theory of Geoffrey Leach, the English linguist. He considers the basis of foregrounding deviations from linguistic norms, which take two forms of "unexpected irregularity", and "unexpected regularity" or parallelism. The findings of this research indicate that the Holy Qur’an, by distinguishing the diacritics in some words, creates a kind of pause in speech and highlights it, and thus conveys the desired meaning to the audience. Such foregrounding in the Holy Qur’an occurs with respect to unexpected irregularity and syntactic deviation in the forms of conjunction and apposition by changing the diacritics of nouns and verbs for purposes such as praise, expression of surprise, and so on. Furthermore, unexpected regularity occurs by simulating an unnunated noun with a nunated one to create verbal musicality and rhythm and for purposes such as expressing greatness and surprise.

Cognition as one of the most important perceptual powers of humans is used by God in making Qur’anic issues understandable. Visual schemas are repetitive and dynamic patterns of human perceptual and sensory-motor interaction and are composed of meaningful experiences, in a way that they are highly used in their relations with the environment. The word "enda", which is equivalent to the English word "near" and conveys the concept of proximity, has different metaphorical uses in the Qur’an. In the present descriptive-analytical study, besides counting its metaphorical applications, schemas of the word "enda" in the Qur’an, which have the potential to be visualized by the audience and convey special meanings, were categorized. According to the research findings, the basic schemas compatible with the word "enda" include directional, inhibition, unity, proximity, force, and existence. The basic schema of "prominence" and the subtitle "linear schema (two-way directional)" is one of the innovative results of this article. It should be noted that the originality of the category of pictorial schemas within the boundaries of metaphysical concepts in the Qur’an should be confirmed carefully and sensitively, and in the interpretation of ayahs, the virtual nature of the applications should be emphasized and analyzed.

“Separation/connection” is one of the most valuable topics in semantics, and necessary for coming to a true understanding of texts in general and the text of the Holy Qur’an in specific. Yet, contemplation on divine words can lead to a number of examples that contradict some important and fixed rules of rhetoric. Hence, it seems inevitable to review and revise the mentioned topic by conducting more research. Accordingly, considering the theory of textuality and relying on the principle of deviation, as one of the most important tools for the literality of the text, this descriptive-analytical study aimed to investigate the contradictory cases of the rules of separation and connection in the ayahs of the Holy Qur’an, and while providing an explanatory analysis for each case, answer the main question of the research concerning the degree of the context-dependence of deviation in the separation and connection positions and the effect of this deviation on the textuality of the text of the Holy Qur’an and its semantic subtleties. The data analysis shows that the current rules on separation and connection are not fixed and absolute but the separation and connection positions can be deviated from with regard to the text's context and the register-dependence of meaning. Therefore, the presence of some discrete stretches of texts in the connection position or the quotation of a continuant discourse in the separation position to pave the way for the separation and connection rules allow the functioning of two semantic and pragmatic tasks together. In other words, the application or the lack of application of the conjunction letter “wa” plays a critical role in the generation of meaning. Moreover, reasoning, enumerating, an exaggerated image of fear and terror, the emphasis on the semantic contradiction of two sentences are among the meanings that the conjunction letter “wa” has created by deviating from the rules of separation and connection.

Irony is a prominent literary foreignization method in which the meaning of events in deep and at surface levels differ. Relying on the thematic analysis of the text of the Holy Qur’an as a literary text, the following article tried to identify, categorize, and analyze the motifs, and visible and invisible ironic signs. In so doing, it sought to answer the question of the conceptual results and literary purposes in the application of the ironic concepts (in particular satirical irony) in this holy book.  With its special attention to culture, the Holy Qur’an as a spoken text has used this speech technique and literary method in order to make its teachings believable for the audiences and to attract them. Relying on ironic elements, the Qur’an has been able to elevate itself to the level of a literary-cultural text. The present study thus also aimed to show that the numerous types of irony in the text of the Holy Qur’an surpass a merely rhetorical or artistic technique and its ultimate purpose is not only the visibility of irony, but also the awakening and awareness of moral themes and teachings, which have helped to build literary ironic images. Accordingly, among the ironic themes applied in the text of the Holy Qur’an examples such as allusion to the revelation of the Qur’an, avoiding arrogance, a camel passing through the eye of a needle, suffocating the wicked with their own hands, flimsy limbs of the hypocrites, as well as destroying idols were explained and analyzed in order to explicate the rhetorical manifestations of this method of literary criticism and its application in the influence of the Qur’anic text.

Critical discourse analysis is a new approach to discourse analysis that integrates both social and linguistic approaches. In the social approach to discourse, the situational context and in the linguistic approach, the contextual context are described. Norman Fairclough's theory of critical discourse analysis is one of the most popular theories in the field of discourse analysis. While seeking to express the relationship between the internal and external criteria of the text, this theory explores the dominant power of societies where a given literary work has been formed via three dimensions of description, interpretation, and explanation. Taking a descriptive-analytical approach, this article aimed to analyze the discourse of Surah Al-Qasas using Fairclough's approach and answer the following questions: How has the effect of hypertext occurred in Surah Al-Qasas? Has the formal discourse of Surah Al-Qasas been reflected in the social strata? What are the results of the hypertext and formal discourse in this surah? The results show that at the level of description, ideology has been explained by discussing the textual structure such as words and sentences. At the level of interpretation, it is the dominance of the divine discourse that is most clearly seen in the face of arrogant discourses. At the level of explanation, the influence of the hypertext and formal discourse on society, public figures and their future are reflected.

The study of intertextual relations is one of the most influential and practical categories of literary criticism. Among intertextuality theorists, Gérard Genettete and his theory have received the most attention. Genette's intertextuality is one of the types of his theory of transtextuality. According to Genette, if there are common elements in two texts, a relation of co-presence is established between them. Since the advent of Islam, the Qur’an as a hypoetext has been the reference and source of many poets from various perspectives of formal and semantic aesthetics. One of these poets is Fayz Kashani, the great Shiite scholar of the 11th century. The main hypotext of his thought in his lyric poetry is the Holy Qur’an. Undoubtedly, in the formal and semantic interpretation of the lyric poetry of Fayz, the study of the intertextual relations between the Qur’an and his poetry leads to a better understanding of his poetry. This descriptive-analytical library research aimed to study the intertextual relations of the Qur’an and the lyric poems of Fayz Kashani using the special method of Genettete's intertextuality. The results of this research show that among Genette's three intertextual relations (i.e., explicit, non-explicit, and implicit), as a Qur’anic scholar and exegete, Fayz has abundantly, throughout his poems, benefited from the Qur’an by identifying and creating different poetic themes in explicit ways (especially in the field of vocabulary) and implicit ways (particularly in the field of themes).