Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 graduate of Persian language and literature, Shahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, Iran
2 Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
With scientific and industrial advances in recent centuries, people were expected to live without worries and in complete peace and prosperity, unaware of the fact that human interventions in the environment and excessive exploitation of underground resources and reserves have led to the destruction of the environment and the emergence of problems such as population explosion, global warming, loss of biodiversity, reduction of natural resource reserves, thinning of the ozone layer, water and air pollution, etc., which has exposed human society to a serious threat.
The importance of this issue has caused scientists in various sciences to seek solutions to overcome these problems. In this regard, various fields of the humanities have also provided solutions. "The reaction of various branches of the humanities to the environmental crisis led to the formation of new interdisciplinary discussions, including environmental linguistics with its sub-branches, environmental ethics, and ecological criticism in the field of literature" (Parsapour, 2012: 7). In the meantime, linguists are trying to solve the environmental crisis through linguistic patterns because they consider language to be one of the most important factors in human understanding of the realities around them. Therefore, through discourse analysis, they investigated the effect of language on human understanding and recognition of the phenomena of existence. Hannigan says about the importance of using discourse analysis in environmental studies: "In recent years, the use of discourse analysis methods to analyze the way of writing, acceptance, and strategic use of environmental texts, images, and ideas has increased. Although discourse analysis is closer to social constructionism, followers of other schools and environmental theoretical research, such as critical theorists, political ecologists, and international policy analysts, have also applied it well (Hannigan, 2015: 59). In fact, these approaches can be considered a kind of change in environmental attitude in the humanities and social sciences, which has caused humanities thinkers to be more precise in their studies because, no doubt, the human mind, cultures, and societies are formed by the natural world from which they are born and are a part (Stibi, 2015: 19). Of course, it should be added that, although discourse analysis is considered a new approach, classical texts written about nature can be analyzed based on discourse analysis. Some linguists and environmental activists, inspired by traditional views, are looking for useful discourses that can replace the destructive discourses of the present age that have caused the separation of man from nature. For example, Stebi has analyzed these poems from the point of view of environmental discourse analysis, with the assumption that there is a discourse in haiku poems that is different from destructive discourses in the West. Based on this, by analyzing mystical texts as one of the traditional Islamic views, we can reach discourses that indicate the deep understanding of the Sufis about the environment because there has been a close relationship between mysticism and nature, which is one of the vital issues of human society today. Therefore, by analyzing mystical texts, one can gain a deeper understanding of the Sufi discourse about the environment in that era. On the other hand, it can be said that mystical discourse can be efficient as a useful discourse because this discourse, far from economic and profitable goals, has shown nature alive and active in such a way that rivers, seas, flowers, plants, etc., as a symbol of nature, are the speakers of these discourses. In this article, an attempt has been made by studying mystical texts from the point of view of discourse analysis to show how much language plays a role in shaping and reflecting human views on nature and the environment. The importance of this research is that so far there has been no research or article on this topic, and from this point of view, the current research is considered a window and a new look at mysticism.
Hypothesis
Are there any fields in our mystical literature that will strengthen and promote today's environmental discourse?
Research Background
One of the important interdisciplinary topics that is connected with literature in modern literary criticism is the relationship between literature and the environment, which is followed seriously in European and American countries. Many articles and books have been written in this field, and some of them have been translated into Iran. Among other things, in the article "Ecocriticism" (2007), Emarati Moghadam introduced the book of Cheryll Glotfelty.
Modoudi (2013), by writing the article "environmental criticism: an interdisciplinary movement between the two fields of environment and literature," Zekavot (2013) with the article "Revenue on the critical canvas," and Parsapour (2013) with the article Ecological criticism: a new approach in literary criticism," have explained this interdisciplinary topic. Also, Parsapour and Hasanpour (year of publication?) in the article "The Role of Literature in the Evolution of Environmental Discourse," while examining how literature confronts environmental discourses based on Zepf's triple functional model, have proposed and promoted this theory.
Regarding this theory, dissertations have been written, such as "Ecological criticism of the novels of endings, Sorrow of War, Wandering in Strange Soil, Roots in the Depths" by Robabe Qolipour (2014); "A comparative study of the relationship between literature and the environment in contemporary Persian fiction, based on ecological criticism" by Mino Mohammadi (2015); and Fateme Bazi Hosseinzadeh (2007), in her thesis entitled "Analysis of Environmental Discourses in Persian Language," has investigated the vocabulary and grammar of newspaper texts with the approach of environmental discourse analysis. Amir Gurbanpour has translated the book "Vanished Animals: Environmental Discourse and Reconnection with the World of Nature" by Arn Stibi into Persian, and Ferdous Agha Golzadeh has translated another book by the same author entitled "Environmental Linguistics, Language, Environment, and the Stories We Live With.".
Result
In this article, an attempt was made to analyze a number of useful ecological discourses among the diverse discourses of mystics in different fields using discourse analysis methods in order to explain the relationship between language and the way of dealing with the environment. The importance of this discourse is that by bringing it up as a part of cultural traditions, it has remembered the environmental values in traditional Iranian-Islamic culture and their potential in providing alternative ways to represent animals and examine nature, because unlike today's era, when the relationship between humans and the elements of nature is represented indirectly through books, movies, magazines, advertisements, toys, etc., they have been in contact face-to-face and directly with the elements of existence. Therefore, they had a lot of knowledge about animals, plants, and bodies, and this knowledge played a big role in improving the relationship of mystics with the environment. This has caused them to represent the world of nature in their discourse in a way that prevents the objectification of the elements of nature.
In general, the results of the investigation of mystic discourse in the field of environment showed that mystics indirectly emphasized environmental protection. They have also stated the duties and requirements in order to respect the rights of nature in their discourses.
Keywords
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