%0 Journal Article
%T Gravestones as Texts: A Genre Analysis of Tombstones through a Gendered Lens
%J Journal of Edulingual Studies (JES)
%I Zerodale Academic Press, an Imprint of Zerodale Inc., Toronto, Canada
%Z 
%A Karimnia, Amin
%A Varzeshi, Reza
%D 2026
%\ 07/01/2026
%V 1
%N 2
%P 1-13
%! Gravestones as Texts: A Genre Analysis of Tombstones through a Gendered Lens
%K Commemorative Practices
%K Discourse Analysis
%K Gender Disparities
%K Genre Analysis
%K Iranian Culture
%K rhetorical moves
%K Tombstone Inscriptions
%R 10.22034/jes.2026.592064.1012
%X This study applies Swales’ (2008) genre analysis framework to Iranian tombstone inscriptions, drawing on direct observation of 1,400 gravestones (750 male, 650 female) and integrating qualitative and quantitative structural-semantic move analyses. Linguistically, the findings reveal a striking predominance of Persian poetic metaphors (82.86% of epitaphic content) over direct Quranic verses (4.8%), underscoring cultural-literary traditions rather than strictly religious rhetoric. Syntactically, the Persian ezafe construction encodes paternal lineage on 84% of men's tombstones, while maternal names are entirely absent (0%), grammatically materializing patriarchal descent. The rhetorical structure comprises nine distinct moves, two of which are obligatory: the deceased’s particulars (name/titles) and lifespan (birth/death dates). Additional gendered markers include photographs (44% on men’s stones, 0% on women’s) and explicit paternal name mentions (84% for men, 58.5% for women), further reflecting Iran's male-dominated social norms. By positioning tombstones as communicative artifacts, this study bridges a gap in genre analyses of non-academic texts, offering a nuanced, gendered perspective on how death, identity, and socio-cultural values are discursively memorialized in Iranian society.
%U https://www.jesjournal.com/article_247556_d619ff0ebba8525c18fa47ced0b7bc9b.pdf