The Rhetorical Construction of Censure in al-Dhahabī’s Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: The Entry on Yūsuf al-Qamīnī as a Case Study
Keywords:
New Rhetoric, argumentation, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalā, al-Dhahabī, biographical discourse, discourse analysis.Abstract
focusing on the entry devoted to Yūsuf al-Qamīnī. It adopts a composite methodology that combines rhetorical analysis, which investigates lexical choices and syntactic structures that position the subject of the entry within a negative semantic field, with argumentation analysis, which examines the persuasive strategies employed by al-Dhahabī. The study is also informed by the perspective of New Rhetoric, which approaches discourse as a means of shaping attitudes and convictions.
The findings show that al-Dhahabī constructs a censuring image through layered rhetorical procedures and persuasive arguments. The study further demonstrates that this construction restricts the possibility of positive interpretation and turns the biographical entry into a discursive space for defining the boundaries of deviance.The study concludes that, in the case of al-Qamīnī, biographical discourse goes beyond the mere transmission of information and functions as a mode of directing reception. It recommends extending this line of analysis to other entries in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ.
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