DSpace at VNU: The meaning structure of a science fiction story: a sysyemic functional analysis

DSpace at VNU: The meaning structure of a science fiction story: a sysyemic functional analysis tài liệu, giáo án, bài g...

T H E M E A N I N G A N D S T R U C T U R E O F A S C I E N C E F I C T I O N

S T O R Y : A S Y S Y E M I C F U N C T I O N A L A N A L Y S I S

1 In tro d u ctio n

What is a text? To a layman, a text

may be ju st a text or it may be “I’ve got no

idea” To the people in the linguistics circle

who are not concerned with language as

social semiotic, a text may be a ra th e r

fuzzy and abstract term , or it may mean “a

body of printed or w ritten work” as defined

by the Collins English D ictionary (1990)

To the etymologist, a text may carry a

general meaning of texture, because, as

they may explain, “text” is derived from

the Latin word “textus” m eaning “tex tu re”

But w hat is linguistic texture is still

another problem

It may be inappropriate to ask second

or foreign language teachers such a big

question If the question is given to them, I

am sure, the polite answ er will be “Sorry,

we are language users, we are not

concerned with language theory What

we’re supposed to do is to use and teach

language correctly and appropriately, and

nothing else.” Fortunately, the “correctly”

and the “appropriately” in th eir answ er

have a lot to CỈO with text, and to

u nderstand w hat a text is will certainly

help them a great deal in their teaching

(for detail of this point, see Hallidav,

McIntosh and Strevens 1964, Halliday and

Hasan 1985, and Burns 1990)

With these difficulties in mind, in this

paper, an atte m p t is made to explore the

n Assoc Prof Dr , School o f G raduate Studies - VNU

H o a n g Van V a n 1*'

gram m ar and m eaning of a science fiction story as a text The procedures and conventions used in the analy sis are based

on the fram ew ork of H alliday’s (1994) An

Halliday and H a s a n ’s (1985) Language,

Text and Context: A spect o f Language in Social-Sem iotic Perspective: Hasan's (1984) Coherence a n d C ohesive: an d B u tt’s (1984) The Them e a n d Lexieo-G ram m ar in the

proceed fr om t h e c o n t e x t of t he chosen

text; clauses an d clause complexes analysis; th e tra n sitiv ity p a tte rn , the mood pattern, the th e m e -rh e m e pattern, the gram m atical and lexical cohesion analyses for the cohesive h arm o n y of the text; to a sum m ary of th e context of situation of the text in te rm s of th e th re e contextual

p a r a m e t e r s : f i e l d , t e n o r a n d m o d e

2 The C o n te x t o f t h e C h o s e n Text

This text is ta k e n from an English

textbook S tre a m lin e E nglish: Connection

published bv C am bridge University Press

in 1983 The t i t l e of the t e x t is A Science

Fiction Story indicating its genre Above

th e text t h e r e is a p i c t u r e in which t here

are a man and a wom an sittin g in a forest

of a new planet Behind them there is a spaceship There are two astronauts’ helmets, one in front of them and the other at their

back T h e y a r e h o ld i n g a fruit 111 their hands

The woman is looking at the man

2 8

The m e a n in g and structure o f a sc ien c e fiction storv: A sysyemic 2 9

3 Clauses and Clause Com plexes Analysis

The analysis of the text into clauses and clause complexes and their logico-semantic relations can be done as follows:

(I) I I The sp a cesh ip fle w a ro u n d the new p la n et several tim es (2) I I The p la n et was blue a n d green (3) I I I They co u ld n 't see the surface o f the p la n et (4) I I because there were too m any w h ite clouds (5) I I I The spaceship descended slow ly through the clouds (6) I I a n d la n d ed in the m id d le o f a green forest (7) I I I The two a stro n a u ts p u t on

th eir sp acesuits, (8) I I opened the door, (9) I I clim bed carefully dow n the la d d e r, (10)

( II ) II The w om an looked at a sm all control unit on her arm (12) I I I “It's all right (13) I I she said to the man (14) I I I “We can breathe the air (15) I I it's a m ixture o f oxygen and nitrogen.” (16) I I I Both o f them took o ff the helmets (17) II a n d breathed deeply I I I

(18) I I They looked at everything carefully (19) II All the plants and animals looked new and strange (20) I I They couldn't fin d any intelligent life (21) I I After several hours, they returned to their spaceship (22) I I Everything looked normal (23) I I I The man switched on the controls, (24)

I I but nothing happened (25) I I I “Something's w rong” (26) I I he said, (27) I I ‘7 don't

understand (28) I I the engines aren't working." (29) III He switched on the computer, (30) I I but that didn't work either (31) I I I “Eve", he said, (32) I I “we are stuck here (33) I I we cant take o ffr I I I

(34) I I I “Don't worry, Adam ” (35) I I she replied (36) I I 'They'll rescue us soon." I I I

The analysis shows th a t the text

consists of 36 clauses which m ake up 18

clause complexes Most of the clauses in

the clause complexes are in paratactic

relation showing th e ir interdependence

Their semantic relatio n s are mainly of

elaboration and expansion Four clause

complexes (VII, XV, XVII, XVII) are of

quoting and quoted relation characterising

the dialogic portion of the text There is

only one clause complex (III) which has

hypotactic relation One more thing th a t

should be com m ented upon here concerns

the division of clause complexes VII and

XVI which read as “It's all r ig h t" she said

to the man “We can breathe the air it's a

m ixture o f oxygen a n d n itro g e n ” and

“S o m eth in g 's w rong,” he said ‘7 don't understand the engines aren't w orking

It is the conventional full stop in writing

t h a t causes a rg u m e n t The full stop in

w ritin g here su g gests t h a t th e re may be two clause complexes in each In this

p a p e r , all t h e fo u r c l a u s e s a r e c omb ine d

into one clause complex, re p re s e n tin g

o n e s e m a n t i c s t r u c t u r e i n t h e w r i t e r ’s

own thinking This is shown in Table 1 below

Tạp ( h i Khoa học D U Q G H N N g o ạ i Iiiỉữ, T XXI So 2 2005

T ab le 1 Clauses and Clause Complexes

(I)

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

3

4

1

1

2

3

4

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

m e 1 «Q IIX

O l O i i i

II C l O II+C l l > III

i n d m >

u C i Q II

l u O

i i d D i

u d O n

i r d D 11 C Ã D II =

Tap (In Khoa hoc Đ H Ọ G H N N goại HỊỊử T XXJ, Sô': 2005

T he m e a n in g and structure o f a sc ience fiction story: A sysyemic 31

1

2

1

2

3

4

1

2

1

2

3

XVIII (34)

1

2

3

'GD

Boundary M arkers used for the analysis:

I I I : Clause complex boundary

I I : Clause boundary

• Type of dependence

( ^ 7 / P ) ( j T ) Paratactic relation

( p ) Hypotactic relation

• Logico-semantic relations

= : Elaboration

+ : Extension

X : Enhancem ent

” : Projection / locution (wording)

• O t h e r s :

I II, III N um ber of clause complex in the whole text

(1), (2), (3) N um ber of clause in the whole text

1 , 2 , 3 N um ber of clause within a clause complex

Tup d l l K hoa hoc Đ H Q G H N N g o ạ i ngữ, T XXJ, So 2 2005

4 T r a n s it iv it y P a tte r n

The text is a n arra tiv e about the two

a s tro n a u ts landing in a new planet for the

first time The “w hat is going on?” of the

text is well rep resen ted in the experiential

component of meaning From the point, of

view of tra nsitivity, of the 36 clauses 17

are m aterial process (flew in 1, descended

in 5, la n d ed in 6, p u t on in 7, opened in 8,

clim bed in 9, stepped in 10, took o ff in 16,

happened in 24, aren't w orking in 28,

sw itched on in 29, d id n 't work in 30, are

stuck in 32, and take o ff in 33) These are

used to describe the motion of the

spaceship (1, 5, and 6) and the physical

actions of th e actors; 6 are mental process

(couldn't see in 3, looked at in 11, looked at

in 18, couldn't fin d in 20, d o n 't understand

in 2 7 , a n d d o n 't worry in 3 4 ) c h a r a c t e r i s i n g

the perception and feeling of the

c h a r a c t e r s w h e n t h e y l and in t h e new

planet; and 7 a re relational and existential

processes (was in 2, were in 4, in 12, ’.s in

15, looked in 19, looked in 22, and '.s in 25)

positing th a t th ing s a re in e x isten t and describing the s ta te of being of the things

u nder the observation of th e a s tr o n a u ts in the new planet

Most of the processes are in the simple past tense (25/36) They are used in the narrativ e portion The p re sen t simple (9/36), the p resen t continuous (1/36) and the simple fu tu re (1/36) are used in the dialogic portion, ch aracterisin g the actions which occurred, is occurring and will occur

at the moment of th e c h a ra c te rs ’ speaking The circum stantial com ponents in the

clauses of the text are of m a n n e r (slo w ly

carefully, deeply), location (around the

p la n et, here, in the m id d le o f the green forest), and direction (through the cloud)

The transitivity p a tte r n of the text is represented in Table 2

T a b le 2 Transitivity P a tte rn of the Text

C l a u s e P a r t ic ip a

( n t l )

P r o c e s s P a r t i c i p a n t 2 C i r c u m s t a n c e s

15 Carrier r e l a t i o n a l's (is) Attribute

Tup ( Khoa hoc D H Q G H N , N g o ạ i I XXJ, So 2, 2005

The m e an in g and s tru ctu re o f a s c ie n c e fiction story: A sysyemic 3 3

XIII 99 Carrier relational looked Attribute

5 The M ood P a t t e r n

The “Who is ta k in g p a rt? ” of the text is

presented in its mood p a tte rn s In term s of

speech function, one can see the two role

relationships, one is betw een the writer

and the reader(s), an d th e oth er between

the characters them selves The analysis

shows th a t most of th e Subjects in the

clauses of th e tex t a re personal Apart

from the fictional fe a tu re s presented by

borrowing th e two im agin ary characters

from the Bible (Eve a n d Adam), the science

fiction features worded in the nominal

groups w hich a r e p la ce d in th e subject

position are m odern science terms

(<astronaut, p la n e t, spaceship, computer,

control u n it .) The finite elem ents in the

n arrative portion a re combined with the

simple past tense, while in the dialogic portion, they are combined with a variety

of tenses such as the simple p re sen t (is,

w orking), and the future simple (will).

There are very few modal elem ents used in the text Only 4 clauses contain modality Two of them express th e w rite r’s judgem ent about the c h a ra c te rs ’ inability

to perform the actions (they couldn't in 3 and they couldn't in 20) Two others

express the ch a ra cters’ (as subject)

inability to perform the actions (c a n t in 14 and carit in 33) Of 36 c lau se s, 35 are in

th e d e clarativ e mood, w hich is one of th e typical fe a tu re s of a n a r r a t i v e T h e mood

p a t t e r n of th e te x t is r e p r e s e n t e d in Table 3

la p ( h i Khoa hoc D H Q G H N N tiỊỊữ ĩ XXI So 2, 2005

T able 3 Mood P a tte rn of the Text

6 The T h e m e -R h e m e P a tte r n

O ur analysis shows th a t most of the

them es in the tex t belong to the plane of

ideational com ponent (that is, topical

theme) Of 21 clauses and clause

complexes analysed for theme, 17 have

u n m a rk e d th em e an d 4 have marked them e At th e beginning of the text,

in a n im ate nouns as them e predominate

(spaceship in 1, p la n et in 2, and spaceship

Tup ( III K lio a hoc D HQ CỈHN N ỊỊoụì tifiii I XXI So 2 2005

The m e a n in g and structure o f a s c ien ce fictio n story: A s y s y e m ic 3 5

in 5), then they are shifted to a n im ate

nouns (a stro n a u t, m a n , and w o m a n ) and

the third person p a rtic ip a n t (she, h e , and

they) revealing the developm ent of the

story 4 clause complexes contain textual

them e (III, VIII, XIV, a nd XVI); and of the

4 marked theme, 3 are in th e dialogic

portion expressing th e logical relations of

addition and en h an cem en t W h at is

in te re s tin g IS t h a t a lth o u g h th e r e a re

dialogic portions in th e text, th e re are no

interpersonal them es This suggests th a t

the text may be w ritten to be read or told

There is a kind of w h a t D an es [7, 1974]

T a b le 4 The

Theme-calls “them atic progression” in the text, though this p atte rn is not always consistent: (Rheme 1 -» T hem e 2 (in clauses 1 and 2); Theme 1 —» Rhem e 2 (in clauses 2 - 3); Rheme 1 —> Rhem e 2 (in

c l a u s e s 4 - 5); Rheme 1 —> T hem e 1 (in clauses 16 = 17 — 18); Theme 1 —> Them e 2

(in clauses 20 - 21); and Rheme 1 —> Theme 2 (in clauses 29 - 30) This is the method of text development to carry the

n arrativ e forward and it is w h at Halliday [2, 1994] calls “the text with a stepwise

s tru c tu re.” The Them e-Rhem e p a tte rn of

th e text can be rep resen ted in Table 4

Rheme P a tte rn of the Text

C lau se T e x t u a l

T h e m e

Interpersonal

T h e m e

T o p ica l T h em e M a r k e d n e s s

o f T h e m e

Tạp c h i K hoa học Đ H Q G H N N ỉio ụ ị n,í>ữ T.XXJ So 2, 2005

IX 18 they unm arked

XVIII

33

34

35

(ellipsis)

36

(ellipsis)

7 The C o h e s io n o f th e T ext

7.1 G r a m m a tic a l C o h esio n

According to Halliday and H asan

(1976), there are four main types of

grammatical cohesive devices: reference,

ellipsis, substitution, and conjunction It

should be noted here t h a t there are very

few conjunctive devices in the text

Therefore, although they are analysed,

they are not discussed in detail in this

exercise The analysis of the grammatical

cohesive devices of the text is based on the

frameworks of B utt’s [5,1984], Halliday

[2,1994], Halliday and H asan [10,1976] It

focuses mainly on the different types of

reference such as anaphoric, cataphoric, exophoric, personal reference, and dem onstrative reference Table 5 p re se n ts

a detailed account of all g ram m atical cohesive devices found in th e text The first colum n e n u n c ia te s the cohesive

in te rp r e ta tiv e sources, the th ird s ta te s

th e phoric s ta tu s of th e tie, and the last

p re se n ts the chain relatio n in te rm s of

th e ad d ress of all the preceding m em bers

in the chain Tables 6 and 7 su m m a rise

th e total n u m b e r of references, the

n u m b e r of clauses, th e nu m b er of cohesive ties in th e tex t and the nu m b er

of ties per clause

Tạp e ll! K ìioa học D H Q G H N NiỊOíii Hịiữ T.XXJ So 2 2005

The m e an in g and structure o f a sc ience fiction story: A sysyemic 3 7

T able 5 G ram matical Cohesive Devices of the Text

C o h e siv e

D e v ic e s

In te r p r e ta tiv e

D e v ic e s

T ies

S ta tu s

C hain

the (surface) 3 planet cataphoric 3 - 3 - 2 - 1

the (spaceship) 1 spaceship anaphoric 5 - 1

them 14 a stro n au ts anaphoric 1 6 - 1 4 - 7 - 3

their 16 a stro n au ts anaphoric 1 6 - 1 6 - 1 4 - 7 - 3

they 16 a stro n au ts anaphoric 1 8 - 1 6 - 1 4 - 7 - 3

they 18 astro n auts anaphoric 2 0 - 1 8 - 1 6 - 1 4 - 7 - 3

they 20 astro n a u ts anaphoric 2 1 - 2 0 - 1 8 - 1 6 - 1 4 - 7 - 3

their 21 they anaphoric 2 1 - 2 1 - 2 0 - 1 8 - 1 6 - 1 4 - 7 - 3

Tap ( h i Khoư học Đ H Q G H N ' N ịỊo ạ i HỊiữ, T.XXI So 2, 2005