نشریه پژوهشهای زبانشناسی (Dec 2021)
The Semiotics of the Sacred space: A Critical Approach to the Production of Space in the Yārsān Religion
Abstract
AbstractThe current paper aims at investigating the strategies of spatial production and representation in the Yārsān religion by focusing on a sacred scripture entitled bārga bārga. To this purpose, firstly the strategies employed for locating a referent in the text are explained according to space grammar as proposed by Levinson (2004). Then, we try to study the strategies of spatial production and representation in the text by applying the geocriticism approach (Westphal 2011). The results show that the text mainly employs three strategies of topology, deixis and motion to specify the location of a referent. In addition, the results demonstrate that the spatial ideas in the text are mainly based on two macro-metaphorical models (Caravan and dyeing). These models make a unified spatial-temporal complex in such a way that any spatial idea associates a temporal epoch (the principle of spatiotemporality). Additionally, the study indicates that the text, by using some strategies, challenges the established and formal spatial boundaries and reconstructs them in a new order to support its ideological intentions. Furthermore, this sacred scripture tries to deconstruct the strict boundary between the real and the fictive (referentiality principle) and also it employs divergent and numerous placenames in an innovative way in order to express its ideological and theological messages. Finally, it should be noted that these strategies are employed to present a new spiritual spatial ideology in the text.Keywords: space, Geocriticism, space grammar, Yārsān, space production IntroductionSpace as a semiotic concept cannot be reduced into a containment schema which is occupied by different objects. On the contrary, the space should be regarded as a cultural construction which is produced by social and ideological procedures. As a result, the scholars (e.g., Lefebvre 1991; Tally 2013; Rendell 2010) state that different spatial constructions in different historical periods or in the same society are produced by divergent social and ideological procedures. In other words, each ideology may represent and reproduce the space in a particular way which is in contrast to the spatial constructions fabricated by other social and ideological discourses. Therefore, the space is not only a socially produced phenomenon, but also a semiotic space which hosts the semiotic antagonism of different social discourses. The sacred space may represent this vividly. It is because a religious discourse in the first phase of its development not only produces a system of beliefs, but also produces objective and imaginary spatial constructions. These spatial ideas are either spaces for performing religious rites and interactions, or subjective spaces serving some religious purposes. In addition, the reproduced religious spaces may challenge the spatial order which has been established by the orthodox religions.In the current study, we try to study the concept of the sacred space in the Yārsān religion from a critical semiotic perspective. In other words, we try to explain the semiotic procedures that are employed to represent and reproduce the sacred space in the sacred scriptures of Yārsān. The Yārsān religion as a gnostic religion (which has been established by Sultan Sahāk (13th century)) has numerous sacred scriptures that discuss and depict different objective and subjective sacred spaces in a particular way (Soori 1965; Kreyenbroek 2020; Safi Zade 1997). The social and religious rites of this religion have a very close relationship with its spatial sites. Additionally, the embodiment of the sacred in the sacred places and also the historical odyssey of the sacred in different places in the divine history of this religion are frequently discussed and illustrated in the Yārsān’s sacred texts. However, one of the sacred scriptures which is exclusively devoted to present the spiritual cartography of the sacred (the sacred places of God) in the history is called bārga bārga (in, The Book of Saranjam: 2007: 367-399). This text not only illustrates and represents the sacred places in a particular way, but also reproduces a new spatial order which may challenge the established and formal spatial ideas in the orthodox religions.To analyze the semiotic procedures of space production in this text, we explain the very idea of space in two different levels. At the first level, we employ the method of Levinson (2004) to explain the spatial grammatical strategies (such as placenames, deixis, frames of reference and etc.) that are used to represent the spatial ideas; and at the second level we employ the methods of Lefebvre (1991) and Westphal (2011) to explain the ideological procedures that are employed in the text to represent geographical places in the text. Method and Material As mentioned, to illustrate the grammatical strategies of locating and representing the spatial ideas (that have been used in the text) we employ the method of Levinson (2004). In this method, the spatial grammatical strategies are divides into two groups. When the image and the ground are linked together, a spatial conceptualizer may employ different strategies such as placenames, deixis or topology. However, when the image and ground are separated, s/he may apply different frames of reference such as intrinsic, relative and absolute frames. It should be noted that all of these strategies are related to static spatial relations; however, to illustrate dynamic spatial connections the conceptualizer may employ motion strategy. Finally, to explain the ideological procedures of representing and reproducing the social and sacred places in the text of bārga bārga, we employ the method of Lefever (1991) and Westphal (2011). Discussion of Results and ConclusionsThe paper showed that the text (bārga bārga) is based on two metaphorical models of dyeing and Caravan. In the first model, God is represented as a dyer and different creatures are depicted as different colors produced by him. This model is applied to illustrate the manifestations of God in different historical periods. In addition, in the caravan model God and archangels are illustrated as travellers in a caravan. Also, the historical periods (the epochs of God’s manifestations in the history) are depicted as the spatial sites in which the caravan and the passengers stop there to take a rest. Therefore, the historical periods and scared sites of God’s manifestations are illustrated in terms of spatial concepts. As a result, the spatial ideas play a very important role in this text.The results indicated that the grammatical spatial strategies employed to represent the locations of the objects and sacred figures in the text are motion, topology and deixis strategies. However, the text doesn’t apply any angular spatial frame. The absence of frames of reference (such as intrinsic, relative) in the text may be explained according to this fact that using the angular frames (such as intrinsic and relative) is possible only when the exact locations of the observer and the objects are recognizable. However, since the (objective and imaginary) locations of the observers (or narrators) and the objects cannot be conceived in this ancient text, these methods are not employed in the text. In addition, the absence of absolute strategy may be due to this fact that this model was not common in the era in which this text has been written. However, the text frequently applies non-angular strategies (such as motion, topology and deixis strategies) because they don’t require the concrete and static perspectives of the observers (or narrators) or the features of a static ground to locate the places of objects and people in the text. In other words, applying non-angular strategies to locate imaginary and sacred spaces is the easiest spatial method that can be used in the text. In addition, the motion strategy is the most frequent spatial strategy in the text because it is used to depict the dynamic odyssey of the sacred in different regions and periods.In the second level, the paper shows that the text applies different placenames in particular ways to serve some ideological interests. In fact, it applies divergent and numerous placenames to reshape and challenge the established spatial boundaries and limitations. For example, it challenges the spatial boundaries between sacred sites such as mosque, Zoroastrian fire temples, churches and etc., and then it reorganizes and reunites them in a particular way to support and illustrate the principle of absolute unity of religions in Yārsān (principle of transgressivity). In addition, the text uses divergent placenames as nicknames for the narrators of the text to support its universal ideological claims. In other words, the text, by using this strategy, tries to show that its claims are supported by divergent narrators. Also, the paper demonstrates that each placename in the text associates a historical epoch in which the manifestation of the sacred has occurred. As a result, this text is based on the principle of the spatiotemporality in which the spatial and temporal ideas cannot be separated. In addition, the discrete boundaries between the real and imaginary places are highly blurred in the text because the text not only represents the sacred places, but also reproduces and inverts them. The distribution of the placenames in the text (Kurdish regions and the other regions) not only shows the centrality of the Kurdish regions in the text, but also represents the other places as sacred reduplicates of the central sites of the sect. Finally, we showed that this text applies these strategies to produce a new geographical map of spirituality. In other words, Yārsān religion tries to produce a system of spatial representation (representations of space) which challenges the spiritual cartographic map of its spiritual opponents. This can be described as the spatial ideology of Yārsān.Acknowledgement: I would like to express sincere thanks to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for supporting this research.
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