Critical Discourse Analysis (Textual Level) of the Ghazals of Nizari Quhistani Based on Norman Fairclough’s Theory

Abstract

Hakim Nizari Quhistani (born circa 1266 CE / died 1320 or 1321 CE), a marginal poet from Quhistan in Khorasan, composed ghazals within a remote environment under the direct pressure of the Ilkhanid rule. His poetry embodies multiple layers of earthly-mystical love, nostalgia for the grandeur of the Persian past, indirect criticism of socio-political conditions, and bitter satire toward power and hypocrisy. The principal issue of the present study is how the linguistic features at the textual level of Nizari’s ghazals (lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical layers) represent or challenge the dominant Mongol power relations and hegemony while reinforcing a discourse of mystical-cultural resistance. The research method is Critical Discourse Analysis based on Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, with a focus on the textual level (description). Selected ghazals (Nos. 140, 168, and 478) were purposefully analyzed. The findings demonstrated that, at the lexical level, binary oppositions (worldliness/gnosis, conventional reason/light, Tatars/beloved) and the repetition of key terms (wine, veil, “when shall it arrive?”) delegitimize the ideology of materialism and foreground mystical resistance. At the syntactic level, the predominance of imperative and interrogative structures (invitation to intoxication, chains of anticipatory questions) enables indirect criticism of authority and positions the poet as a cultural agent. The rhetorical layer, through complex metaphors (veil, the Shabdiz steed), contrasts (appearance/reality), paradoxes, and bitter irony, exposes the social contradictions of the Ilkhanid era (the rise of the unworthy, hypocrisy) and transforms mysticism into an alternative discourse. Overall, Nizari’s poetic language functions as an active instrument for reconstructing Persian identity and fostering cultural resistance against foreign hegemony.