[Lecture] Image Construction through Meaning Choices, 12 Jan.

Last updated:2016-01-06

Topic: Image Construction through Meaning Choices: A Systemic-functional Analysis of Fathers’ Letters in Dad Where Are We Going
Speaker: Professor Yang Xueyan (Beijing Foreign Studies University)

Time: 8:20-9:30AM, Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Venue: Room 509, School of Foreign Languages Building, South Campus, Sun Yat-sen University

Abstract: This article offers an analysis of letters written by two fathers to their daughters in the widely-acclaimed Chinese reality TV show Dad Where Are We Going, addressing the relationship between images of the fathers and meaning choices they make in language use. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics, an analytic framework is proposed covering meaning options in terms of ‘speech function’ (what is done), ‘process’ and ‘participant’ (what is said), and ‘attitude’ (how things said are evaluated). The framework is applied to both qualitative and quantitative analyses of meaning choices – realized in linguistic forms – made by the two fathers in their letters. Results reveal meaning features that function to construct different images of the two fathers: one as a sensitive and devoted ‘servant’, willing to do all he can for the physical and emotional well-being of his daughter, meanwhile inclined to self-criticism hoping to improve his performance; and the other as a perceptive and dedicated ‘mentor’, aware of both strong and weak points of his daughter and concerned with her personal development, setting out specific qualities and behaviors for her to acquire. It is argued that an analysis of one’s meaning choices, supported by linguistic evidence, leads to an objective and reliable interpretation of one’s image construction, which is lacking in previous studies.

Organizer: School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University