Discourse-Oriented Structures of the Prophet Solomon (AS) Narrative in Surah An-Naml: Van Leeuwen's Theory

Abstract

It is not possible to get the desired thought of the text without considering the discourses of social actors. Using sociological-semantic categories, Van Leeuwen's discourse-oriented theory (2008) can explore the hidden layers of language in oral and written texts by stressing the importance of social actors of discourse. Hence, this theory can reveal the underlying relationships of each discourse. Due to the mysterious and discourse-oriented structures of the Holy Qur'an, one can find that the hidden ideology behind them is approximately the same. Therefore, discourse analysis can find a special status in Qur'anic studies. This study has examined the discourse system of the narrative of Prophet Solomon (AS) in Surah An-Naml with descriptive-analytical and statistical approaches using Van Leeuwen's discourse-oriented model. The findings suggest that the inclusion components (134 cases) have a much higher frequency compared to the exclusion components (38 cases). On one hand, this means that God pays the most attention to the meaning, but on the other hand, in stylistic creativity, He introduces the audience, the names of individuals, groups, places, and times in which social actors play an active role. Besides, the components of reference allocation (98 cases), role allocation (20 cases), and type allocation (16 cases) have the most representation in all types of social actors included in this narrative, respectively.