| Studying verbal violence and linguistic impoliteness, particularly in satirical discourse, constitutes a significant area of linguistic and discourse analysis research. Despite theoretical advancements in the field of impoliteness, a systematic analysis of this phenomenon in Persian satirical texts, based on Culpeper's theoretical framework, has received insufficient attention. The present study aims to fill this academic gap by examining impoliteness strategies in four prominent Persian satirical works from different historical periods including those by Obeyd Zakani (1301), Dehkhoda (2016), Pezeshkzad (1958), and Aydin Sayar Saree (2019) to identify the most and least frequently used impoliteness strategies in these works and thereby illustrate the evolutionary trend of employing these strategies in Persian satire from the past to the present. Each of these works holds an established place in Iran's cultural memory and has been extensively referenced in academic, media, and public discourses. According to Culpeper's (1996, 2005, 2011) theoretical framework of impoliteness, impoliteness is conceptualized as an interactive, context-dependent, and relative phenomenon. It is analyzed based on three components: the speaker's intention, the hearer's perception, and the socio-cultural context, through the application of six strategies: bald-on-record impoliteness, positive impoliteness, negative impoliteness, sarcasm or mock politeness, and withholding politeness. In this study, through an integrated methodology combining qualitative (discourse analysis) and quantitative (frequency analysis) approaches, the study identifies and categorizes impoliteness strategies including face-threatening acts and social norm-threatening acts across a corpus of satirical texts comprising over 663 pages. The data indicate that negative and indirect impoliteness strategies, as face-threatening acts, exhibited the highest frequency in the examined works. The least frequent instances fall within the domain of social norm-threatening acts. The predominance of negative impoliteness which targets the negative face of the audience, here referring to formal structures, power institutions, or established norms demonstrates that Persian satirical language has consistently served as a deliberate and purposeful instrument for social, political, and cultural critique across all periods. Iranian satirists have employed strategies such as disparagement, ridicule, and sarcasm to challenge power structures while avoiding direct confrontation with associated risks. This language has been utilized for exposure, protest, and subverting the symbolic order. In contrast, the strategy of "accidental or unintentional offense" demonstrates the lowest frequency, as Persian satire is fundamentally based on intentionality and awareness. The Iranian satirist engages in impoliteness deliberately to challenge power structures, rather than committing verbal violence through linguistic error or inadvertence. |
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