The Analysis of the Discourse of Coins in the Safavid Period (The Efficiency of the Model of Van Leeuwen’s Critical Discourse Analysis in Analyzing the Texts inscribed On the Coins Minted under Safavid Shah Isma’il)

Reproduction of the thought hidden in any text is possible by accessing the discourses constructed by the social agents in the public thoughts. In a discourse-oriented theory on the approaches of critical discourse analysis, Van Leeuwen has examined the hidden layers of text with an emphasis on social agents, revealing their method of representation. This study examines the texts inscribed on the coins in Safavid Shah Isma’il I’s era through a descriptive-analytical method, based on the “sociological-semantic” components in Van Leeuwen’s model, assessing the functionality of that approach in studying the texts inscribed on coins, showing the method of representation of the social agents in the lingual structures as well as the relationship between ideology and power in the hidden layers of those texts. The results of this study show that Shah Isma’il I, in addition to using the mottos on coins for solidarity of the people’s national and religious identity, used those texts for threatening the enemies, encouraging his troops, and showing off his celestial power and authority. The mostly used discourse-oriented component in achieving these goals is expressions of the type of naming and classification.