Analysis of Hidden Meanings in the Curses of Nahj al-Balagha from the Perspective of Pragmatics (with a Focus on the Translation of Musavi Garmaroudi)

Shahbazi, Aliasghar

doi:10.22059/jalit.2023.358284.612673

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

aliasghar shahbazi

Assistant Professor Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2023.358284.612673

Abstract

The reflection of the social culture of Arab life can be seen in many parts of the text of Nahj al-Balagha. Propositions of execration and cursing are one of the expressive linguistic elements of the culture of those times, which are important from different linguistic, psychological, and social dimensions. The use of these propositions by Imam Ali (PBUH) is sometimes strange and unfamiliar to the audience who is unfamiliar with the context of the speech, and transferring it to another culture from the context of translation seems to be an outstanding challenge due to the hidden aspects of meaning and cultural differences. These utterances, like many independent compounds such as proverbs, are connected to other parts of the text in terms of meaning and indicate a part of the social structure of Imam Ali's era. In the current research, relying on the descriptive-analytical method, based on pragmatics and situational context, an attempt is made to evaluate the implicit meanings of some of these meanings in Garmaroodi's translation of Nahj al-Balagha. Examining the situational and textual context of the use of speech acts of reproach and cursing in Nahj al-Balagha indicates the drawing of motives such as warning and neglect, disillusioning, humiliation, reprimand, surprise, and persuasion, along with due evaluation of the audience as well. The audience of these propositions were sometimes the relatives, friends, and people of the cities under the Imam's rule, and sometimes they were his enemies, which the Imam often used when complaining about and reproaching them. In the margin of his translation, Garmaroodi has pointed out the aspects of their meanings along with the semantics of a number of these expressions and has tried to create a correct concept of these types of expressions as infused within translation, by considering the secondary meanings of these expressions, such as contempt, expressing surprise, warning and reprimand, etc., and has put forth the interpretations within the translation

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Analysis of Hidden Meanings in the Curses of Nahj al-Balagha from the Perspective of Pragmatics (with a Focus on the Translation of Musavi Garmaroudi)

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Volume 16, Issue 2 - Serial Number 40May 2024Pages 65-90

Volume 16, Issue 2 - Serial Number 40
May 2024
Pages 65-90