Explaining the Causal Relations of the Effective Categories In the Stylistic Theory of Malek osh-Shoʻarā Bahār

The style, stylistics, and its methodology do not have a clear definition in Iran yet. Although nearly seventy years have passed since the emergence of stylistics in Iran, the theoretical stylistic approach of its creator, Malek osh-Shoʻarā Bahār, has not been properly explained. It is suggested that his theoretical approach be studied through qualitative content analysis and soft operational research based on interpretivism primarily, to present a schematic, measurable and generalizable model. Then, in order to explain the causal relations of the effective categories in his theory, a questionnaire should be prepared for the experts to answer and the existing relations should be analyzed by DEMETEL. Data analysis shows that Malek osh-Shoʻarā Bahār's theory has 6 main categories, the most influential of which are “science and knowledge”, “literary knowledge and continuum” and “culture”, and the most susceptible of them are “researching style”, “the study of literary currents” and “style”. The result of the study reinforces the hypotheses and models of previous related research. The final matrix shows that “science and knowledge” is the independent factor and “research style” is the dependent factor. This article, in addition to showing the main categories of Bahār’s stylistic approach, can also change the research methodology in Persian language and literature.