Linguistic Analysis Techniques for Literature Students: A Study of Speech Acts in Social Criticism - Case Study of the Play "What About Tomorrow?"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This article presents a scientific analysis of speech acts in the play "What About Tomorrow?Written in 1978. This research utilizes the pragmatic theories of John Austin and John Searle to examine five types of speech acts in the play's text, including directive, commissive, expressive, representative, and declarative acts.

The analysis reveals that directive acts (commands, requests, and suggestions) have the highest frequency in the play and play a crucial role in representing social power relations. Commissive acts (promises and oaths) reflect the cultural and moral values of Lebanese society. Expressive acts reveal the psychological complexities of the characters and are often intertwined with Lebanon's multilingual culture. Representative acts reflect socio-economic realities, while the absence of declarative acts symbolizes the characters' inability to change social conditions. Overall, more than half of the play's utterances contain directive and expressive acts, indicating the tense and emotional atmosphere of the war period. The research findings demonstrate that Rahbani, through creative use of the Lebanese dialect has created multi-layered speech acts that not only narrate life in Lebanon during the civil war but also serve as powerful tools for social and political criticism.
Keywords: Speech act, Pragmatics,Linguistics,
Social criticism,Playwriting

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