A Pragmatic Analysis of 'Repartee' in Sufi Discourse: A Case Study of Attār Nishapuri's Works

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author)

2 Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Repartee, as a linguistic‐cultural phenomenon, occupies a central role in Sufi discourse, serving as an interactive joint action within the turn-taking system of conversation. It functions as a strategic mechanism for challenging social norms, managing face, and conveying nuanced messages within Sufi contexts. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, utilizing Béal and  mullan’s (2013) four-dimensional model which comprises speaker / target / audience interplay, linguistic mechanisms, pragmatic functions, and interactional positioning to systematically extract and analyze 184 instances of repartee from Attār’s Mathnawī. Findings reveal that, in the speaker/target/audience dimension, repartees are predominantly produced by socially subordinate speakers, with a marked listener-oriented focus. In the linguistic mechanisms dimension, repartees exhibit a sophisticated interplay of traditional rhetorical devices, e.g. puns, metaphors, and rhetorical reversals (qalb al-maṭlab) and discursive strategies, including conceptual reframing and incongruity, thereby enhancing their aesthetic and semantic complexity. Analysis of pragmatic functions indicates a dual role, whereby repartees both disrupt existing social hierarchies and reinforce social order through tension mitigation and indirect communication. Finally, the interactional positioning dimension demonstrates the predominance of reactive repartees in generating dynamic exchanges. This research advances our understanding of repartee in classical Persian texts, offering novel insights for cross-cultural studies of humor and interaction. They offer a robust foundation for future scholarly inquiry.

Keywords

References

‒ Al-Zamakhshari, A. Q. M. I. (1992). Rabi' al-Abrar wa Nusus al-Akhbar [Spring of the righteous and texts of news] ('A. A. Mahna, Ed., 1st ed.). Mu'assasat al-A'lami lil-Matbu'at. [In Arabic]
‒ Attardo, S. (1994). Linguistic theories of humor. Mouton de Gruyter.
‒ Attar, F. (2005). Mantiq al-Tayr [The conference of the birds] (M. Shafi'i Kadkani, Ed.). Sokhan. [In Persian]
‒ Attar, F. (2006). Asrar-Nameh [The book of secrets] (M. Shafi'i Kadkani, Ed.). Sokhan. [In Persian]
‒ Attar, F. (2007). Mosibat-Nameh [The book of affliction] (M. Shafi'i Kadkani, Ed.). Sokhan. [In Persian]
‒ Attar, F. (2008). Elahi-Nameh [The book of divine] (3rd ed.; M. Shafi'i Kadkani, Ed.). Sokhan. [In Persian]
‒ Attar, F. (2019). Tadhkirat al-Awliya' [Memorial of the saints] (Vols. 1–2; M. Shafi'i Kadkani, Ed.). Sokhan. [In Persian]
‒ Béal, C., & Mullan, K. (2013). Issues in conversational humour from a cross-cultural perspective: Comparing French and Australian corpora. In B. Peeters, K. Mullan, & C. Béal (Eds.), Cross-culturally speaking, speaking cross-culturally (pp. 107–139).
‒ Béal, C., & Mullan, K. (2017). The pragmatics of conversational humour in social visits: French and Australian English. Language & Communication, 51, 1–12.
‒ Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
‒ Dynel, M. (2009). Beyond a joke: Types of conversational humour. Language and Linguistics Compass, 3(5), 1284–1299.
‒ Fa'ur, M. M. (2014). The rhetorical presence in silencing responses: Conciseness, metaphorical expression, sound reasoning, and quotation. Al-Turath Al-Arabi, 134–135(11), 4–42. [In Arabic]
‒ Goddard, C. (2009). Not taking yourself too seriously in Australian English: Semantic explications, cultural scripts, corpus evidence. Intercultural Pragmatics, 6(1), 29–53.
‒ Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. University of Pennsylvania Press.
‒ Grothe, M. (2005). Viva la repartee: Clever comebacks and witty retorts from history's great wits and wordsmiths. HarperCollins.
‒ Hay, J. (2001). The pragmatics of humor support. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 14(1), 55–82.
‒ Holmes, J., & Marra, M. (2002). Over the edge? Subversive humour between colleagues. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 15(1), 65–87.
‒ Ibn Abi 'Awn. (1996). Al-Ajwibah al-Muskitah [Silencing responses] (M. A. Yusuf, Ed.). 'Ayn lil-Dirasat wal-Buhuth al-Insaniyah wal-Ijtima'iyah. [In Arabic]
‒ Ibn 'Abd Rabbih, A. M. (1984). Al-'Iqd al-Farid [The unique necklace] (Vol. 4, 1st ed.). Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyah. (Original work published 1404 AH). [In Arabic]
‒ Ibn al-Jawzi, A. F. (2003). Akhbar al-Adhkiya' [Stories of the clever] (1st ed.). Dar Ibn Hazm. [In Arabic]
‒ Ja'farian, R. (2019). A collection of witty anecdotes from classical texts: "Mustajma' al-Ajwibah al-Hazirah" by Abbas Qoli Khan Sepehr (1341 AH). Maqalat va Resalat-e Tarikhi, (7), 521–540. [In Persian]
‒ Kazazi, M. J. (1995). Zibashanasi sokhan-e parsi [Persian literary aesthetics]. Nashr Markaz. [Persian]
‒ Kotthoff, H. (2006). Pragmatics of performance and the analysis of conversational humor. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 19(3), 271–304.
‒ Mazandarani, M. H. ibn M. S. (1997). Anwar al-balaghah [Lights of eloquence] (M. A. Gholami-Nejad, Ed.; 1st ed.). Daftar-e Mirath-e Maktub. [In Persian]
‒ Norrick, N. R. (2003). Issues in conversational joking. Journal of Pragmatics, 34(10), 1341–1359.
‒ Qadduri, M. (2018). Silencing responses in classical Arabic literature. Al-Haqiqah, 17(1), 211–233. [In Arabic]
‒ Qasim, M. A. (2017). The intelligence of eloquence in silencing responses in Arabic heritage. Al-Ma'rifah, 56(648), 73–89. [In Arabic]
‒ Shiri, Q. (2025). Humor-generating factors and main types of humor. Studies in Language and Rhetoric, 15(36), 119–152. [In Persian]
‒ Vahidian Kamyar, T. (2004). Badi' az didgah-e zibayi-shenasi [Figures of speech from an aesthetic perspective]. SAMT. [In Persian]
Journal Of Linguistic and Rhetorical Studies
Volume 16, Issue 42
In Progress
December 2025
Pages 159-198

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics