AL-JAHIZ'S EPISTLES: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH

Abstract : Today, we are witnessing an extraordinary growth in thought and theory in the field of literature, as a result of the transfer of knowledge and the conceptual and practical diversity of critical schools, which is accompanied by a strong cognitive momentum. This intellectual reality necessitates that researchers in the field of literature not only confront modern theories but also engage them in such a way that it is useful for Arab Studies. Among these theories is the pragmatic theory, also known as the science of linguistic usage, because it investigates language in terms of its contexts of usage and communication. This study aims to identify the pragmatic dimensions in "Al-Jahiz’s Letters" based approached to categories from pragmatic theory, which can be used to disclose Al-Jahiz pragmatic awareness in his texts, because he is one of the significant Arabic literary figures in the Abbasid stage. The findings from this study showed AL-Jahiz's letters revealed a linguistic and rhetorical architecture stipulating multiple pragmatic practices, ie communicative purposes, strategies of guidance, and persuasion. This confirms the classical Arab heritage is not devoid of pragmatic dimensions can be interpreted in the modern linguistic theories which enhances the possibility of attaching these theories to ancient Arabic textual analysis. Keywords: Pragmatics – Speech Acts – Grounding – Arab Heritage – Communicative Competence – Argumentation