Text and discourse as a subject of linguistic

Text and discourse as a subject of linguistic study Lecture 7 1

Theory of Text Theory of Discourse Yuri Lotman Robert-Alain de Beaugrande Werlich E. Turaeva Z. Chernyavskaya V. E. P. Hartmann E. Scheglov Algirdas Julius Greimas M. M. Bakhtin XX c. 50 ies-60 ies Teun van Dijk [deik] Wolfgang U. Dressler Ėmile Benveniste 2

Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman «Analysis of the Poetic Text» «The Structure of the Artistic Text» «Внутри мыслящих миров: Человек. Текст. » (28 Feb 1922 -28 Oct 1993) 3

Émile Benveniste (27 May 1902, Aleppo, Syria – 3 Oct 1976, Paris) a French Jewish structural linguist, semiotician, an apprentice of Antoine Meillet and his successor Developed a theory of utterance (French ‘discourse’) which was further elaborated by Michel Foucault 4

Michel Foucault (French: [miʃɛl fuko]; born Paul-Michel Foucault) (15 Oct 1926 – 25 June 1984) a French philosopher, social theorist, historian of ideas, and literary critic M. Foucault: discourse is a multitude of utterances belonging to the same formation (1996). Utterance , according to the philosopher, is not verbal, not liguistically shaped sequence of signs, but a segment of human knowledge and a part of discourse practice. Discourse embraces all possibilities for creating certain utterances or actions (Foucault’s ‘discourse practice’ (non)-verbal)). Discourse is maximally widely understood: extralinguistic factors are of primary importance in distinguishing the nature of discourse, the linguistic factors being secondary. Extralinguistic factors: communicational situation, cultural-ideological environment where the communication takes place. 5

The problem of distinguishing discourse and text Discourse is defined through text: Text in relation to discourse can be viewed as its fragment, as the basic unit of discourse (Звегинцев 1976; Степанов 1995) Discourse as a whole text or a complex of texts somehow united (Арутюнова 1990; Серио 1999); Text can also be viewed as a certain result of discourse functioning (Бенвенист 1974; Борисова 2001), Text can be viewed as being equal to discourse (Николаева 1978). 6

Robert-Alain de Beaugrande (1946 – 2008) A professor of English Linguistics at the University of Vienna (19911997) A text linguist and discourse analyst, one of the leading figures of the Continental tradition in the discipline. A major figure in the consolidation of critical 7

ROBERT ALAIN de Beaugrande: A language is a theory of cognitive knowledge and social experience (what language users know and live), Discourse is its practice (how they talk about it), both sides interfacing the linguistic, cognitive, and social domains. A text is a communicative event that contributes to a discourse as a set of mutually relevant texts, usually a conversation; A text is a communicative unit produced by a discursive event and recorded in some prosodic or visual medium. Any relevant subunit, such as a Phrase, Clause, or Paragraph, can be called a Stretch of Text to remind us where it belongs. A Text is not just a series of units but rather a tri-modal system that integrates the sub-systems of Lexicogrammar, Prosody, and Visuality. A text can deploy not just language, but tone of voice, gesture, facial expression, imagery, photographs, cinema, or some combination of such resources. 8

Text and discourse Latin ‘textus’ derived from ‘texo’ ‘to weave, to build’ Used figuratively to mean ‘style, syllable, connection, coherent statement’ Discursus – derived from discurro ‘to run in different directions, to spread about, to fall apart’ Used figuratively to mean ‘to tell’ 9

Text and discourse Discourse – is speech, with concrete visible, detectable, understandable Text is predominantly orderly, people, participating in dialogue formally regulated Is predominantly oral (is followed by Is static, the reader follows the notions like ‘speaker’, ‘hearer’, ‘to author’s flow of thought without tell’, ‘conversation’). the possibility to intrude Can be written as well – newspaper Text is stated in a written form discussion, news in mass media Is predominantly spontaneous; like speech discourse is dynamic. Utterance provokes a chain of questions, answers, comments. 10

The seven principles of textuality Robert de Beaugrande 1. COHESION - the connections among linguistic forms like words or word-endings 2. COHERENCE - those among the ‘meanings’ or ‘concepts’ 3. INTENTIONALITY - covers what speakers intend 4. ACCEPTABILITY - what hearers engage to do; 5. INFORMATIVITY concerns how new or unexpected the content is; 6. SITUATIONALITY concerns ongoing circumstances of the interaction; 7. INTERTEXTUALITY covers relations with other texts, particularly ones from the same or a similar ‘text type’. 11

1. Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence; i. e. the links that hold a text together and give it meaning. It is related to the broader concept of coherence. Two main types of cohesion: grammatical, referring to the structural content, and lexical, referring to the language content of the piece. M. A. K. Halliday & Ruqaiya Hasan five categories of cohesive devices creating coherence: 1) reference, 2) ellipsis, 3) substitution, 4) lexical cohesion and 5) conjunction. Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M. A. K. Halliday) (born 13 April 1925) 12

1) Referential devices that create cohesion (M. A. K. Halliday, R. Hasan) Anaphoric reference occurs when the writer refers back to someone or something that has been previously identified, to avoid repetition. Cataphoric is a reference forward as opposed to backward in the discourse. Something is introduced in the abstract before it is identified. Ruqaiya Hasan, a professor of linguistics 13

REFERENCE EXOPHORA indicates situation references ENDOPHORA ANAPHORA CATAPHORA 14

Anaphoric reference (Collins Cobuild) Pronouns: personal, possessive, demonstratives Adjectives: previous, above, former, latter, equal, corresponding Adverbs: here, then, thus Nouns: accusation, advice, excuse, gossip, lie, reply, report, story, summary, verdict, warning Determiners: such, same 15

Cataphoric reference Demonstratives: this, these Adjectives: following, next, such Adverbs: below 16

The way cohesion works Exophoric is reference to something extralinguistic, i. e. not in the same text, and contrasts with endophora Our planet (ER) may be home to 30 mln (ER) different kinds of animals and plants, each individual locked in its own lifelong (ER) fight for survival. Everywhere you (ER) look on land or in the ocean, there are extraordinary examples of the lengths living things go (A / ER) to, to stay alive (ER). (BBC, ‘Life’ I. I. 00. 23 – 00. 40 , narrator D. Attenborough) 17

2) Ellipsis happens when, after a more specific mention, words are omitted when the phrase needs to be repeated. A conversational example: (A) What are you doing tonight? (B) Nothing special (i. e. I am doing nothing special tonight) 18

3) Substitution A word is not omitted, as in ellipsis, but is substituted for another, more general word. E. g. "Which dress would you put on? " – "I would put on the red one" where "one" is used instead of repeating “dress" This works in a similar way to pronouns, which replace the noun. 19

The three types of substitution Nominal : one, ones, same E. g: I’ll take this one. Verbal : do E. g: He writes poems, he really does Clausal : so, not Eg: It’s going to rain. I think so. 20

4) Lexical cohesion is a linguistic device which helps to create unity of text and discourse. In contrast to grammatical cohesion, lexical cohesion “[…] is the cohesive effect achieved by the selection of vocabulary. ” (Halliday 1994). Thus, a speaker or writer’s either conscious or unconscious selection of certain lexical items that are in some way connected to each other creates lexical cohesion. Lexical cohesion includes: 1) repetition, 2) synonymy a) antonymy, b) hyponymy 3) collocation 21

5) Conjunction and transitions Conjunction sets up a relationship between two clauses. The most basic but least cohesive is the conjunction and. Transitions are conjunctions that add cohesion to text and include then, however, in fact, and consequently. Conjunctions can also be implicit and deduced from correctly interpreting the text. 22

Grammatical cohesion The logical and structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. NB! Grammatical and lexical cohesion overlap The conjunction is the border line between the two types 23

2. Coherence of the text - is what makes a text semantically meaningful. - is achieved through syntactical features: a) the use of deictic, anaphoric and cataphoric elements or a logical tense structure, b) presuppositions and implications connected to general world knowledge. The purely linguistic elements that make a text coherent are subsumed under the term cohesion. 24

In short, Cohesion is formal integrity Coherence is meaning 25

Coherence concerns the ways in which concepts and relations, which underlie the surface text, are linked, relevant and used, to achieve efficient communication. Relations are the links between concepts within a text, with each link identified with the concept that it connects to. Types of relations of coherence: Causality Enablement Reason Purpose 26

Causality Hush-a-by baby On the tree top, When the wind blows The cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, The cradle will fall, And down will fall baby Cradle and all. The wind causes the cradle to rock, the broken in the wind bough causes the cradle to fall 27

Enablement Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after (Jack and Jill’s going up the hill makes possible their falling down) 28

Reason Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner, Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said 'What a good boy am I!’ (“I’m a good boy because I‘ve pulled out a plum out of the pie”) 29

Purpose “Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? " "I've been up to London to visit the Queen. " "Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there? " "I frightened a little mouse under her chair“ (visiting the queen was the purpose of cat’s going to London) 30

3. Intentionality concerns the text producer’s attitude and intentions as the text producer uses cohesion and coherence to attain a goal specified in a plan. Without cohesion and coherence, intended goals may not be achieved due to a breakdown of communication. However, depending on the conditions and situations in which the text is used, the goal may still be attained even when cohesion and coherence are not upheld. 31

4. Acceptability concerns the text receiver’s attitude that the text should constitute useful or relevant details or information such that it is worth accepting. Text type, the desirability of goals the political and sociocultural setting cohesion and coherence are important in influencing the acceptability of a text. 32

5. Informativity concerns the extent to which the contents of a text are already known or expected as compared to unknown or unexpected. No matter how expected or predictable content may be, a text will always be informative. The level of informativity should not exceed a point such that the text becomes too complicated and communication is endangered. The level of informativity should also not be so low that it results in boredom and the rejection of the text. 33

6. Situationality concerns the factors which make a text relevant to a situation of occurrence. 7. Intertextuality concerns the factors which make the utilization of one text dependent upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered text. Texts such as parodies, rebuttals (спростування напр. , звинувачення), forums and classes in school, the text producer has to refer to prior texts while the text receivers have to have knowledge of the prior texts for communication to be efficient or even occur. 34

Intertextuality Goldilocks zone Habitable zones A habitable zone is the region around a star where orbiting planets similar to the Earth can support liquid water. It is neither too hot, nor too cold ? 35

… then Goldilocks did another very bad thing! She ate some porridge from father bear’s big bowl. ‘Ooh!’ she said. ‘I don’t like this. It’s hot. ’ then Goldilocks ate some porridge from mother’s bowl. ‘Oooh!’ she said. ‘I don’t like this. It’s cold!’ Then she ate some porridge from baby bear’s bowl. ‘Mmm!’ she said. ‘I like this. It’s not hot and it’s not cold. It’s just right’ Goldilocks zone no Not too hot, not too cold, just right 36

The way it works КАФЕШКА Ты Гордая такая - взлёт (CAUSE) Твёрдая такая - лёд (CAUSE) Холодная такая (REASON) Ты Громкая такая – гром (REASON) Жёсткая такая - облом (CAUSE) Не подходи ко мне Но за столиком в любимой кафешке Разреши поцеловать тебя в щёчку Я раскрою сразу все свои фишки Болевые точки Но подъеду я к тебе близко-близко Поверну своей рукой твою ручку И раскрою сразу все свои фишки Подарю все штучки Ты Очень тонкая струна Очень странная страна Свободная страна такая Ты Весь такой вот на разрыв Весь такой вот АХ – обрыв Не подходи ко мне Но за столиком в любимой кафешке Разрешу поцеловать себя в щёчку И раскрою сразу все свои фишки Болевые точки Но подъедешь ты ко мне близко Повернёшь своей рукой мою ручку Я раскрою сразу все свои фишки Подарю все штучки 37

That’s all for now! 38