A Social Semiotic Approach Toward Letters of Amir Al-Mu'minin to Uthman ibn Hunayf Ansari based on Pierre Giraud's Theory

Semiotics is a research approach that investigates signs and understands the concepts and hidden meanings in the text. Pierre Giraud's social semiotics focuses on identity signs and social customs that belong to people and shows the groups and their relationships. Through understanding the concepts, this theory reflects the hidden meanings of the signs and differentiates beliefs and thoughts. The two letters of Amir al-Mu'minin (PBUH) to Uthman ibn Hunayf Ansari have a suitable capacity for social semiotic studies and provide a clear reflection of the issues of that era. The present research, using Pierre Giraud's theory, seeks to answer the basic questions regarding the various components and social signs in the letters of Amir al-Mu'minin (PUBH) to Uthman ibn Hunayf. It also aims to indicate the effect of these signs on the actions of the Imam (AS), the actions of his servants, and the prevention of the agents' corruption. The diversity of social signs in the letters, Imam's attention to the class conflict between inferior and superior people by mentioning the identity and society categories, and his special attention to the social, cultural, moral, and religious content are the most important findings of the research. Also, the most important signs of identity in these letters are clothes, nicknames, places, and morals, and the most important signs of social etiquette include categories such as food and the tone of the Imam's speech.