Document Type : Scientific-research
Author
P.h.D, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The Incongruity-Resolution (IR) Model, traditionally rooted in humor studies, has not been extensively applied to the analysis of mystical texts. This study aims to present an expanded model for examining the incongruity-resolution strategy in mystical dialogues, demonstrating its adaptability to non-humorous and complex educational-mystical contexts. For this purpose, one hundred selected dialogues from Attar’s works were qualitatively analyzed and classified into six patterns based on types of incongruity (frame-based and verbal) and resolution mechanisms (frame-based, verbal, or inferential). The findings reveal that in mystical dialogues, incongruity not only triggers cognitive tension but also serves an educational purpose by destabilizing conventional cognitive frameworks, guiding readers toward moral and spiritual growth. Unlike humor, which favors rapid and linear resolution, Sufi dialogues employ open-ended, multilayered resolution, fostering a recursive interpretive process aligned with the cognitive and spiritual objectives of Sufi teachings. While cognitive effort in humor resolution results in amusement and pleasure, mystical dialogues transform this pleasure into spiritual insight or enlightenment. The results suggest that the IR model offers a valuable framework for understanding the dynamic cognitive processes underlying mystical dialogues but requires refinement to account for the multilayered and occasionally unresolved nature of incongruities in these texts.
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