An Analysis of the Discourse of the Soft Power of Teaching Persian Language and Literature in the Strategy of Cultural Diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary approach that can be explained in the fields of linguistics, political science, cultural relations, international relations, soft power, and etc. This approach includes two different attitudes: the first one specifically deals with linguistics and intralingual studies; and the second one, which is the focus of this study, examines the extra-linguistic factors including culture and cultural geography. Through soft power towards implementing the policy of cultural induction, language and literature become the means of hidden power relations because each country tries to pursue its own cultural interests through specific policies of cultural influence on the culture of the target country and its cultural transformation. Furthermore, one of the most important cultural policies to influence other cultures is teaching language and literature and this goal is achieved in two ways. In the first way, the relation between the transcendent culture (domineering) and the audience of the sublime culture (domineered, obedient) is usually made by the preachers and introducers of the former through preaching and explaining that culture along with its intellectual and cultural attractions. In the second way, the linguistic domination and cultural influence are created and strengthened through teaching language and literature in different levels, depths, and to a wide target audience; accordingly, cultural diplomacy is achieved through the soft power of teaching language and literature. Using a documentary method and a descriptive-analytical approach, this research seeks to answer the basic questions of how the soft power of Persian language teaching is analyzed and, consequently, where Persian literature stands in the strategic relations of cultural diplomacy, and how it is evaluated.
One of the most important achievements of this research can be the impact of teaching Persian language and literature in the form of showing historical, civilizational, religious, and linguistic commonalities through explaining the discourse analysis of the common cultural-historical contexts, especially in geo culture (cultural geography) and presenting a strategy for cultural diplomacy.