A Study of the Contrast between Truth and Reality in Tārikh-e Bayhaqi Based on Discourse Analysis

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Fardin Hossienpanahi

10.22067/jls.v44i2.12625

Abstract

The discourse or discourses of the society of Abolfazl-e Bayhaqi's epoch with the extensive verbal (speech and writing) and nonverbal (religious, convictional, social, political, cultural, and economic contexts and factors) potentialities, have left a great impact on thoughts, actions and words of the characters in Tārikh-e Bayhaqi. Although Bayhaqi is the narrator of the events, he himself is a character present in the discourse of Tārikh-e Bayhaqi, and as such, under the influence of the dominant discourse(s) of the period Attending to the words and thoughts of Bayhaqi concerning his attitude towards Ghaznavid's sovereignty, and the Sultan himself, reveals that there is a dichotomy in his discourse. This paper attempts to examine the opposition between truth and reality in Bayhaqi's discourse and its impact on his attitude towards the government and the king, in order to unveil Bayhaqi's role in the discourse of Tārikh-e Bayhaqi, pivoted around the aforementioned dichotomy in his discourse. In this study, the manner of Bayhaqi's deployment of "ideology" to legitimize the rulership of Ghaznavids, and the role of his conscious and unconscious mind in his attitude towards the king and his status will be analyzed. The results of this study show that the dichotomy in Bayhaqi's words emanate from the Interpellation and impressionability of the two opposed discourses.

Keywords

• Tārikh-e Bayhaqi
• Abolfazl-e Bayhaqi
• Discourse analysis
• Ideology
• Legitimacy

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