This study re-examines seven existing narratives of the encounter between Shams and Rumi, exploring the discourses embedded within them. The central research question is whether the dominant discourse in the texts is formulated to preserve ideological power relations within the layers of the social structure or to undermine and transform them. Employing a qualitative-quantitative method based on Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model (description, interpretation, and explanation), the author first analyzes the linguistic structure and features of the texts using Hallidayan Systemic Functional Grammar. It then proceeds to analyze the discourses articulated in the production and consumption of the texts, culminating in an analysis of the broader social context according to Fairclough's methodological principles.
The findings indicate that each narrative, by representing the developments arising from the hegemony of mystical discourse, introduces variations into the prevailing discursive order of the text, influenced by the authors' proximity to the location of the encounter. Furthermore, the degree of the authors' mystical and scholarly interactions is linked to their purposes and intentions in narrating the event. Among these, the most prominent component foregrounded in the discourse of all these texts, around which other elements are articulated, is the renunciation of formalistic and exoteric knowledge, which in any form or at any level can be misleading.
Behnam,M . (2026). A Discourse Analysis of the Narratives of Rumi and Shams' Encounters Utilizing Norman Fairclough's Methodological Approach. (e20771). Mysticism Studies in Literature, 4(8), e20771 doi: 10.22054/msil.2026.82625.1153
MLA
Behnam,M . "A Discourse Analysis of the Narratives of Rumi and Shams' Encounters Utilizing Norman Fairclough's Methodological Approach" .e20771 , Mysticism Studies in Literature, 4, 8, 2026, e20771. doi: 10.22054/msil.2026.82625.1153
HARVARD
Behnam M. (2026). 'A Discourse Analysis of the Narratives of Rumi and Shams' Encounters Utilizing Norman Fairclough's Methodological Approach', Mysticism Studies in Literature, 4(8), e20771. doi: 10.22054/msil.2026.82625.1153
CHICAGO
M Behnam, "A Discourse Analysis of the Narratives of Rumi and Shams' Encounters Utilizing Norman Fairclough's Methodological Approach," Mysticism Studies in Literature, 4 8 (2026): e20771, doi: 10.22054/msil.2026.82625.1153
VANCOUVER
Behnam M. A Discourse Analysis of the Narratives of Rumi and Shams' Encounters Utilizing Norman Fairclough's Methodological Approach. Mysticism Studies in Literature. 2026;4(8):e20771 (In Persian). doi: 10.22054/msil.2026.82625.1153