Argumentative links in the book Al-Subh Al-Munbi

Abstract

This study explores the argumentative dimension in al-Ṣubḥ al-Munbi ʿan Ḥaythiyyat al-Mutanabbi by ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAlawī, one of the prominent contemporary critical works that engages with the figure and poetry of al-Mutanabbi in a deeply analytical and dialectical style. The research falls within the scope of pragmatic studies that integrate linguistic and intellectual approaches. It applies the theory of integrated pragmatics and the argumentative scale to trace the manifestations of linguistic argumentation in the text. The study is structured into a preamble introducing the book and its author, followed by a theoretical chapter addressing the essence of argumentation, its core concepts, and the key tools of pragmatic analysis such as argumentative connectors and the argumentative scale. The second, applied chapter examines the expressions of argumentation in the book, focusing on the use of argumentative connectors and factors in constructing persuasive discourse—whether through affirmation, negation, preference, or rebuttal of opposing views. The research concludes that al-ʿAlawī constructed his critical discourse on a conscious argumentative foundation, employing pragmatic connectors and strategies effectively. This positions his work as a rich model of argumentative literary criticism in contemporary Arabic literature.