Báo cáo nghiên cứu khoa học: "Hệ tư tưởng của bản tuyên ngôn độc lập Mỹ" docx

In this paper, an analysis of the United States Declaration of Independence in the light of Critical Discourse Analysis in terms of vocabulary and grammar is presented.. The text of the

T T T Hoa Ideology of the United States Declaration…, tr 40-47

Ideology of the United States Declaration

of Independence

Tran Thi Thanh Hoa (a)

Abstract Written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, the United States Declaration

of Independence is a famous discourse In this paper, an analysis of the United States Declaration of Independence in the light of Critical Discourse Analysis in terms of vocabulary and grammar is presented Based on the findings of the analysis, the writer's revolutionary ideology which is hidden within the discourse is revealed In addition, it is suggested that Critical Discourse Analysis can be used as a necessary theoretical basic and analytical tool for analyzing and understanding the intricateness of discourse

1 Introduction

Many language learners, including

English language ones, usually find

authentic discourse difficult to

comprehend fully This is because they

fail to understand the author's aims

and ideas In other words, they are

unable to understand the ideology that

is hidden within the discourse, and that

drives the discourse

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA),

with its new perspective, can help the

language learners in general and

English language learners in particular

to deal with that problem

To contribute further supporting

evidence of the persuasive utility of

CDA to authentic discourse, as a case

study, the United States Declaration of

Independence was analyzed in the light

of CDA

2 Defining CDA and Systemic -

Functional Grammar (SFG)

2.1 What is meant by CDA?

The term Critical Discourse

Analysis (CDA) is used to denote the

theory formerly identified as Critical

Linguistics (CL) In the late 1970s, CL

was developed by a group of linguists

and literacy theorists at the University

of East Anglia [6] CL practionioners such as Trew [9, p 155] aimed at

“isolating ideology in discourse”

Since 1990s, CDA has been further developed and broadened Ruth Wodak, writing in Language, Power and Ideology [8] defines CDA as an interdisciplinary approach to language study with a critical point of view According to Fairclough [2], CDA is critical in the sense that it aims to show non-obvious ways in which language is involved in social relations of power and domination, and in ideology

2.2 Systemic - Functional Grammar (SFG) and CDA

Systemic - Functional Grammar (SFG) is a theory of language centered around the notion of language function SFG was mainly developed by M A K Halliday in the 1960s

SFG starts at social context, and looks at how language both acts upon, and is constrained by, this social context At this point Halliday and CDA theorists agree with each other on the assumption that there is a dialectical relationship between society NhËn bµi ngµy 21/9/2009 Söa ch÷a xong 09/11/2009.

tr−êng §¹i häc Vinh T¹p chÝ khoa häc, tËp XXXVIIi, sè 4b-2009 and language It is apparent that SFG

is relevant for doing a CDA and that is

why most linguistic analysis is based on

this grammar model, for example in

Fairclough [3], [1]; Chouliaraki and

Fairclough [4]; Kress [6] Chouliaraki

and Fairclough [4] note that SFG “has

most in common with CDA and most to

offer CDA”

3 Purpose and methodology

In analyzing the United States

Declaration of Independence, this study

has set two aims The first aim is to

discover the ideology which is hidden

within this discourse, thereby, to serve

a better understanding of this famous

political discourse The second aim is to

suggest that CDA, as a research

direction, can be used as a necessary

theoretical basic and analytical tool for

analyzing and understanding the

intricateness of discourse The

intricateness of discourse mentioned

here is that “discourse is invested with

ideologies” [1, p 8]

There have been different ways of

doing CDA since defferent linguists

may approach this field of study

differently Each individual method

puts emphasis on dissimilar levels of

analysis Hence, the CDA researchers

should decide on their own focus of

analysis Norman Fairclough [3]

suggested the analytical framework for

investigating language in relation to

ideology Therefore, the analysis of the

United States Declaration of

Fairclough's [3] guided questions on

doing CDA in combination with

Hallidayan’s SFG

Throughout the analysis, the most

relevant social and historical factors

that contribute to the production and

interpretation of the discourse were referred to when necessary

4 Analysis The United States Declaration of Independence was analysed in terms of vocabulary and grammar The following prominent linguistic strategies which include lexical choice, metaphor, pronoun choice, repetition of key words and transitivity would be under consideration

4.1 Lexical choice According to Fairclough [3] and van Dijk [10] a choice of words may have various implications that express the ideological perspective of the author In analyzing the lexicon of the speech, it is attempted to clarify how ideology realized in Thomas Jefferson's use of vocabulary

First of all, the type of speech should be under discussion

A discourse of giving a speech often involves a speaker and the audience The text of the speech in this analysis is the United States Declaration of Independence which was read from the east balcony of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts The targeted hearer, therefore, was firstly the American people (known to the British

as people of the colonies), secondly, King George III )the King of Great Britain) and his people and thirdly, the people from many other countries in the world This is clear as in different parts

of the text, Thomas Jefferson indicates particular addressees either directly or indirectly

For example, in the second part of the speech, he addresses his audience

as “we” (We hold these truths to be self-evident) so the “ideal hearer” postulated

in the following part and also in most of

T T T Hoa Ideology of the United States Declaration…, tr 40-47 the speech are the American people

Especially, he addresses King George

III and his people directly and

indirectly: present King of Great

Britain, A Prince, They too have been

deaf , He has refuted / forbidden /

refused /…, etc

The speaker normally draws on

classification schemes, in terms of

which vocabulary is organised, to

express his experience or his

evaluations

4.1.1 The classification scheme

with negative and positive vocabulary

In this speech, the classification

scheme with negative vocabulary

includes 24 words and phrases It is

used to express the speaker’s negative

attitude towards King George III and

the present government: destructive of

these ends, alter, abolish, a long train of

abuses and usurpations, absolute

despotism,etc

With the use of negative

vocabulary, Thomas Jefferson tried to

create a negative image of a King and

the present government The King is

“unfit to be the ruler” and the

government should be “thrown off” The

speaker’s words reveal not only his

evaluation of reality but also his

attitude As a politician, his description

of reality and his attitude are formed on

the political ideas and aims Behind

that description of reality is the

speaker’s indignation, condemnation

and antagonism It is clear that the

speaker’s word choice is ideologically

used and his point of view is opposite to

the reality he describes

4.1.2 The classification scheme

with positive vocabulary

In this speech, the classification

scheme with positive vocabulary

includes 10 words and phrases It is

used to express the speaker’s positive attitude towards the new government: all men are created equal, Life, Liberty, (pursuit of) Happiness, new Guards, etc

The ideal government is reflected through the speaker’s political stance so

it might or might not become true Behind the image of that ideal is the speaker’s respect, admiration and support to new government

These words appeared here with a careful selection and a clear intention 4.2 Metaphor

Powerful, strong and poetic words found in the text are used in the form of metaphor This is a means of representing one aspect of experience in terms of another Different metaphors have different ideological attachments: swarms of Officers

new Guards The first phrase “swarms of Officers” is used to refer to the members of the present government The word “swarms” usually appears in the phrases or combinations with bees

or ants, such as “swarms of bees” or

“swarms of ants” They fly and crawl here and there, they make everything confused and they can bite people In a word, this phrase has a negative sense,

it implies a bad government

The second phrase "new Guards" makes us have a feeling of security This is the image of an ideal government which guards for the people’s security, and gives people the rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit

of Happiness” This ideal government in the future is absolutely opposite to the present government

It is clear that these metaphors are ideologically used

tr−êng §¹i häc Vinh T¹p chÝ khoa häc, tËp XXXVIIi, sè 4b-2009 4.3 Pronoun choice

Throughout the text, the pronoun

“we” is found in 10 places This

“inclusive” we represents the speaker and

the hearers, and the hearers here are

the American people One aspect of this

reduction is that it serves corporate

ideologies which stress the unity of a

people

The pronoun “he”, which indicates

King George III, is used 18 times in the

text With the high frequency of using

the pronoun “he” in the text, Thomas

Jefferson concentrates the attention of

a people on a single enemy to prevent

the division of attention of a people

As soon as the wavering masses

find themselves confronted with too

many enemies, objectivity at once steps

in, and the question is raised whether

actually all the others are wrong and

their own nation or their own

movement alone is right Therefore, a number of different enemies is regarded

as one - the king This strengthens the King’s causes and increases the American people’s bitterness against the King

It is argued that the use of “we” and

“he” is for creating the solidarity in mind of the people and the speaker's responsibility

4.4 Repetition of key words There are generally formal connections between sentences in a text, which are collectively referred to

as cohesion Among the cohesive devices, vocabulary links between sentences that include the repetition of words can be found in the text The following graph provides a summary of frequency of repeated words taken from the text

The horizontal of the graph shows

the number of repetition (frequency) of

words which are taken from the text

The vertical of the graph shows the

words which are repeated in the text

The words “dissolve” and “life”

appear early at the beginning of the

text and they are repeated at the end of the text The repetition of these words creates a link throughout the text and maintains the topic of the text

The highest frequency of repetition

“he has” (18 times) makes up a constant focus of the text The focus here is the

T T T Hoa Ideology of the United States Declaration…, tr 40-47 King has acted tyrannically not just once

or twice, but repeatedly and over a long

period A new government, therefore,

should be instituted in order to provide

American people the “right” to “Life” and

“Liberty”

The repetition which can be seen as

a listing and makes the hearers have

very strong emotion Therefore, the

hearers could feel that there is a call for

revolution Additionally, the hearers

would be given the careful, step by step,

justification for the revolution It is

clear that the critical analysis could

help us to unpack the ideological

underpinnings of the text

4.5 Transitivity

The result of transitivity analysis

including Material, Relational, Verbal

and Mental processes of the speech is

illustrated in the following table

Table: Summary of Transitivity

Analysis Data

Type of

Process

Number

of citations

Percentage

of total citations

Regarding the processes of

transitivity system, the process type of

greatest importance is “Material” 66.3%

or two-thirds of the total number The

remaining third consists of: “Relational”

(19.7%); “Verbal” (10.5%); and, “Mental”

(3.5%)

Material

As far as material clauses are

concerned, the foremost aim of the

speaker is to describe actions and events Among the 57 instances of material, up to 39 are related to the King And interestingly enough, all of these material processes have the King and his people in the role of actor For example:

- The political bands which have connected them with another

- He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coast

The implication that the readers can easily get from this is that the King and his people are the causes of all the usurpations, abuses and damages that the American people are suffering In Jefferson’s mind, this justifies the rebellious actions of the American people Moreover, their actions are justified to the point of actual revolutions, not just rebellious actions Relational

The next most commonly used process type is relational (19.7%), of which the carriers are only about either the American people or King George III This choice of process type helps to describe the situation of America under the rule of King George III:

- The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations

- A Prince is unfit to be the ruler of

a free people

And the American people have the following reaction:

- while evils are sufferable (by the American people) than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed

- such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies

However, the situation gradually gets worse and worse:

- They (King George III and his people) too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity

tr−êng §¹i häc Vinh T¹p chÝ khoa häc, tËp XXXVIIi, sè 4b-2009

In a word, the Relational process

helps to depict the situation of America’s

society and the destiny of the American

people under the rule of King George III

Verbal

An interesting thing is that there

are 10 verbal processes in the text and

all of them have American-related

sayer For example: We have warned ,

We have appealed , We have

conjured , We publish and declare

In the verbal processes, the

American people appeared in the role

of Sayer It implies that the American

people do not want the “actions” They

demonstrate the tendency to

negotiate They would love to

maintain the long-established

government that was performing its

proper duty - securing the rights of its

citizens And people should think long

and hard before trying to overthrow

any government, however evil it may

be Taking a look at the context, we

could find the reason why the speaker

describes the King’s actions strongly

and the American people’s actions

slightly

In the 18th century, the most

powerful nations of the world were

monarchies The ideas of Jefferson

could serve not only to threaten Great

Britain’s colonial empire, but the

colonial empires of other nations in

Europe Recognizing the importance of

maintaining good diplomatic relations

with European nations to get aid,

Jefferson sought to explain the actions

of the 13 colonies in rational terms

Anticipating that this document would

influence rebellions elsewhere, Jefferson

clarified that governments should not be

changed for trivial causes Instead,

Jefferson explained that only “despotic”

or totalitarian governments should be

overthrown

Mental The mental process, which is only 3 out of 86, brings remarkable impression, especially with one in which the senser is the King

- He has excited domestic insurrections among us

The other two are those in which the senser is the American people

- Mankind are more disposed to suffer

- Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren The choice of those mental processes creates two contrasting pictures of the King who is doing evil and the American people who do not want to continue to live with that evil This expresses the attitude of the American people towards the King It also arouses the indignation of the hearers against the King and expresses the American people’s hope to be separated from Great Britain

To conclude, the transitivity analysis of the text has made it clear about the situation in America and the status of the American people under the rule of King George III Moreover, it points out the causes of that situation and the American people’s attitude towards the King along with their hope

to be separated from Great Britain

5 Summary of the main findings and discussion

Lexical choice including the classification schemes with negative and positive vocabulary, metaphor, and repetition of key words reveal quite interesting aspects of the speech

The author has employed all these three linguistic strategies to create the opposite images of the two governments: the present government and the new government

T T T Hoa Ideology of the United States Declaration…, tr 40-47 Similarly, the choice of mental

process of the transitivity system has

created the contrasting pictures of the

King and the American people

The contrast of the two images and

two pictures make the hearers have

very strong emotion Therefore, they

could feel that there is a call for an

actual revolution to “dissolve” the bad

“government” and to establish a new,

radical “government”

The high frequency of repetition” he

has” (18 times) gives rise to a sense of

over-abundance The King George III

has acted tyrannically not just once or

twice, but repeatedly and over a long

period The hearers could understand

that there is no other choice but to

change the bad situation and to seek

the ideals through military means

Obviously, this strategy is used to

justify the Americans’ use of military

means to set aside the present

government and institute a new

government

Perhaps the most surprising finding

from the study is the use of pronoun

“he” With the high frequency of using

the pronoun “he” (18 times) in the text,

Thomas Jefferson concentrates the

attention of a people on a single enemy

- the King This could be explained as

follows

It took 14 months, military

pamphleteering, and the further abuse

of colonial rights before all 13 colonies

agreed to pursue independence The

Colonies doubted whether they would

be strong enough to resist the British

military When pronoun “he” (but not

they) used, it can make hearers find

themselves not to confront too many

people This could persuade the

Americans to take up arms in the

revolution for their independence

Also, in the 18th century, the powerful nations of the world were monarchies and among them Great Britain was considered as the most economically and militarily powerful nation The way of saying of “he” (but not you) could pull the British citizens towards the Americans’ side

An important finding from the study was the absolute percent of verbal processes in which American people appeared in the role of sayer As the data have shown, up to 39 instances (or 45.3%) of material having the King and his people in the role of actor They are the causers of all the “repeated injuries”, and “usurpations” which American people have to suffer under the rule of the King The speaker describes the King’s action strongly and the American people’s slightly in order

to maintain the diplomatic relationship with European nations to get their support and aid, and to justify the Americans’ actual revolutions

6 Conclusion This study has been an attempt to discover the ideology of the United States Declaration of Independence The particular linguistic strategies employed, were, lexical choice,

repetition of key words and transitivity The author has embedded

in the text his indignation condemnation and antagonism to King George III and the present government

He then lends his respect, admiration and support to the new and radical government In the speech, there is a justification for an actual revolution for abolishing the present government and establishing the new and radical government What is embedded here is the speaker's revolutionary ideology

trường Đại học Vinh Tạp chí khoa học, tập XXXVIIi, số 4b-2009

It is clear that, this “discourse is

invested with ideologies” [1, p 8]

It is evident that Critical Discourse

Analysis, as a research direction, can be

used as a necessary theoretical basic and analytical tool for analyzing and understanding the intricateness of discourse

References

[1] N Fairclough, Discourse and Social Change, London, Polity Press and Blackwell,

1992

[2] N Fairclough, Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language, London, Longman, 1997

[3] N Fairclough, Language and Power, (2nd edition), London, Longman, 2001 [4] N Fairclough and L Choulariaki, Discourse in Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis, Edinburgh University Press, 1999

[5] M A K Halliday, An Introduction to Functional Grammar, London, Arnold,

1994

[6] G Kress, B Hodge, Language as Ideology, London, Routledge, 1979

[7] Nguyễn Hoà, Critical Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method, NXB ĐHQG Hà nội, 2006

[8] Ruth Wodak, Language, Power and Ideology: Studies in Political Discourse London, Benjamins Publishing Company, 1989

[9] T Trew, Language and control, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979

[10] T A Van Dijk, Critical Discourse Analysis, (1998a), Available: http://www.hum.uva.nl/teun/cda.htm (20/3/2003)

[11] R Wodak, and M Meyer, Methods of Critical Analysis, London, SAGE Publications,

2001

Tóm tắt

Hệ tư tưởng của bản Tuyên ngôn Độc lập Mỹ

Tuyên ngôn Độc lập Mỹ được Thomas Jefferson viết vào năm 1776 Đây là một ngôn bản nổi tiếng Trong bài báo này, Bản tuyên ngôn Độc lập của các Bang Thống nhất Mỹ được phân tích dưới cách nhìn của Phân tích Diễn ngôn Phê phán (CDA) trên phương diện từ vựng và ngữ pháp Kết quả phân tích đã khám phá ra hệ tư tưởng của bản Tuyên ngôn Độc lập - hệ tư tưởng cách mạng Bài viết còn gợi ý rằng CDA, với vai trò là một đường hướng nghiên cứu, có thể dùng như một cơ sở lý thuyết và công cụ phân tích để khám phá ra tính bên trong của ngôn bản