تحلیل نشانه‌معناشناسی فرایند انتقال معنا در نظام‌های گفتمانی خطبۀ الزّهراء

In this article using the semiotic approach to discourse analysis, the authors have analysed the process of meaning transfer in Al-zahra sermon. To produce the meaning of the divine power, the afterline and earthly attachements, agony, how to die and death, respectively, in this sermon,discourse passes through different semiotic changes which leads to the process of meaning-configuration and transfer. The aim of this research which is descriptive-analytical is to define those orders of discourse governing the discourse and to consider the conditions of meaning transfer in terms of form or meaning. The major question is: how and based on which functions meaning transfer occur. Under which conditions the process of meaning transfer occur in the disconrse of sermon.The authors supposes that the process of meaning transfer is a function of becoming and emotional processes which the semantic impulses and discoursive interruption, alongside, lead to the reinforements of the processes. The most important achievement of this research is to represent that the process of meaning transfer, based on stative-eventual function of discourse with two shifts in meaning: transcendental presence of god in the beginning and mortal and graceless presence of human at the end.



1. Introduction

Literary texts, given their function, create a discourse system(s) with specific sign-meanings (Semiotics). These sign-meanings are instrumental in the process of meaning reconstruction. The "al-Zahra" sermon of Ali ibn Abi Talib addresses a variety of topics. Its main theme is the power of the Almighty and the exclusivity of grandeur in Him and the resurrection. In this sermon, meaning is continuously transformed; The discourse spaces are somehow interlaced, hence allowing for a transition from one sign to another.

Research Question(s)

This study addressed the question of how and under what conditions the process of semiotic transfer emerge in the discourse of the al-Zahra sermon. The authors hypothesized that this is a function of Greimas's transformational processes and thymic structure of discourse, in which semiotic conjunction and discursive disjunction, that is the separation of the subject from the center of meaning explicity, reinforce these processes.



2. Literature Review

The focus here was on how the conveyance of meaning takes place. This study, therefore, delved into an analysis of semantic transfer in the dynamic discourse of al-Zahra sermon to illustrate how the transformer connects with the spirit of the universe, through what process reaches from plurality (kol (all)) to unity (anta (you)), how the transformational presence experiences an eventual state, and through what function the discourse space is placed in a transcendental state. When dealing with other creatures, i.e., angels and human beings, in the sermon, the semantic transfer changes from a transformational to an actional state, where these two regimes stand against each other and the preacher refers to God's specific objective in creation. A creature such as a human, as an actant, is set on a predetermined path, and in the process of discourse, the actant subject, when facing the problem of his presence and non-presence, becomes completely passive and turns into an existential subject; That is, the sign of existential meanings is taken as the basis of discourse and the process of semantic transfer reproduces a new meaning. At the end of the sermon, when the intensity (intensité) and extent (extensité) regimes confront each other, the meaning of the resurrection and its events intertwine.



3. Methodology

This was a descriptive-analytical study using the semiotic approach to analyze the discursive functions in the al-Zahra sermon. First, the theory was explained and then the entire sermon was scrutinized using the research framework. Finally, the hypotheses were examined and the findings were presented.

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4. Results

The research findings showed that this sermon can be studied in relation to different discursive regimes considering its semiotic features. In terms of semantic processes, "transformational" and "tensive" processes were predominant in the discourse. This confirms the hypothesis that the process of semantic transformation in this discourse is subject to transformational processes and thymic structure of discourse, and the process is reinforced by semiotic conjunction and discourse disjunctions. Based on the tensive mode, the subject is unable to act in the face of divine gifts and is bewildered, thus placed in a transformational and affective process. This disjunction creates discursive tension, which places the subject in an intensity (intensité) state. The larger is the extent of the subject's understanding of God's power, the greater this bewilderment becomes. Therefore, the transformer subject enters a tensive state and the quantitative and qualitative extent is placed at the highest point of the horizontal and vertical axes.These two modes of presence indicate that the meaning has a fluid, dynamic flow in these signs. In the action-based system, discourse takes advantage of persuasion and faces the resistance and diligence of the actor and the creation of new situations and fluid meanings. In the end, the process of semiotic transfer takes place through movement from the transcendental presence of God in the beginning to the unbalanced and perishable presence of humans at the end of the discourse based on an eventual transformational function.