A Transitivity Analysis of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter.doc

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1、系统功能语法与文学教学 从功能视角对红字中海斯特普琳的及物性分析摘要：霍桑的代表作红字在美国文学和世界文学中有着非常重要的地位。这部小说构思独特，人物刻画细致入微运用心理分析方法阐释罪恶这一主题。本文试图对小说进行文本分析从而揭示语言形式和表达效果的关系。本文主要采用系统功能语法及物性理论对小说的女主人公海斯特普琳在人生的不同时期的经历进行及物性过程分析，从而挖掘她的性格特征。关键词：语言形式，艺术效果，及物性，性格Functional Grammar and the Teaching of Literature -A Transitivity Analysis of Hester Prynn

2、e in The Scarlet LetterAbstract : Nathaniel Hawthornes masterpiece The Scarlet Letter takes an important position in both American and world literature. The novel itself is unique in that it is ingeniously structured and highlighted with the successful carving of the characters and the authors own m

3、editation of the theme of original. This paper attempts to make an inquiry into The Scarlet Letter by means of text analysis of the novel with the aim of revealing the relationship between artistic effect and linguistic form. With functional stylistic approach or rather the theory of transitivity as

4、 the central theoretical ground, the paper tries to make a character analysis of the heroine of the novelHester Prinne by interpreting the process analysis of the character at different stages of her life throughout the story. Key words: linguistic form, artistic effect, transitivity, characterI. Tr

5、aditional Literary Criticism and Functional Stylistics1.1.Traditional Literary Criticism Traditionally, there are different approaches to literary works such as psychological approach, post-colonial approach, Marxist approach , formalistic approach, feminist approach, deconstruction approach and so

6、on. Traditional literary criticism has been, and will be the mainstream of literary evaluation. Apart from the “pure” literary models, it assimilates aesthetical, philosophical, psychological, sociological, historical and other scientific principles into the appreciation of literature; it not only o

7、ffers us an exterior picture of the literary texts, but also demonstrates interior meanings of the works. The former refers to the authors personal experience, his personality, social circumstance, historical and cultural background connected with the writing of the texts, while the latter refers to

8、 literary works themes, structures, characters, and artistic properties,etc. ( Welleck and Warren, 1984; Daiches, 1981)1.2. Style and Stylistics1.2.1. The Definition of Style. The term style is viewed differently. Some view it a dress of thought; others view it a form, choice, foregrounding or devia

9、tion，and so on and so forth. According to David Crystal and Derek Davy , style has the following interpretations.” Style may refer to some or all of the language habits of one person as when we talk of Shakespeares style (or styles), or the style of James Joyce More often , it refers in this way to

10、a selection of language habits , the occasional linguistic idiosyncrasies which characterize an individuals uniqueness. In a similar way , style may refer to some or all of the language habits shared by a group of people at one time ,or over a period of time , as when we talk about the style of the

11、Augustan poets, the style of Old English heroic poetry , the style in which civil service forms are written, or styles of public-speaking . Again, the more widely we generalize a situation, the more selective in describing the language habits of the participants in that situation we must become. Sty

12、le is given a more restricted meaning when it is used in an evaluative sense, referring to the effectiveness of a mode of expression. This is implied by such popular definitions of style as saying the right thing in the most effective way or as good manners. Partly overlapping with the three senses

13、just outlined is the widespread use of the word style to refer solely to literary language. Style has long been associated primarily or exclusively with literature, as a characteristic of good, effective, or beautiful writing.( David Crystal and Derek Day, 1969: 9) Modern stylistics started at the b

14、eginning of 20th century or rather 1960s from Charles Bally , father of modern stylistics. The development of modern stylistics has benefited a lot from modern linguistics. Ever since its establishment, modern stylistics has been a field much debated by both literary critics and linguists. It is, an

15、d at the same time is not, an independent discipline due to its various characteristics, both theoretical and practical. (Fen, 2002: 1)1.2.2. The Nature of Style. Traditional stylisticians tend to take style as expression or dress of thought. Prague School views it as foregrounding. Generative Gramm

16、ar School has the similar view , regarding it as deviation from the norm. Systemic Functional Grammar tends to view style of choice, and the choice is context-driven. Not only is it a choice of form but also a choice of content. And the choice of content is primary in that the form is determined by

17、its content. ( Hu , 2005: 358-359)1.2.3. The Definition and Task of Stylistics. Literally, stylistically means the study of style. Generally speaking, stylistics can be further classified into general stylistics and literary stylistics. “The study of style; just as style can be viewed in several way

18、s, so there are several different stylistic approaches. This variety in stylistics is due to the main influences of linguistics and literary criticism.By far the most common kind of material studied is literary; and attention is largely text-centered .The goal of most stylistic is not simply to desc

19、ribe the formal features of texts for their own sake, but in order to show their functional significance for the interpretation of the text; or in order to relate literary effects to linguistic causes where these are felt to be relevant.Stylisticians want to avoid vague and impressionistic judgments

20、 about the way that formal features are manipulated. As a result, stylistics draws on the models and terminology provided by whatever aspects of linguistics are felt to be relevant. (Wales, 1989: A Dictionary of Stylistics) The goal of most stylistics, and literary stylistics in particular, is not s

21、imply to describe the formal or linguistic features of texts for their own sake, but to show their functional significance for the interpretation of the texts, and even to reveal the power relationship of the characters and social pattern and ideologies represented by the literature. (Si, 2004: 8)1.

22、2.4. Functional Stylistics. Functional stylistics is a branch of modern stylistic theory. In a broad sense, it refers to the stylistic theory with function of language as the basis for the exploration of style of language. In a narrow sense, it refers to the literary theory based on systemic functio

23、nal grammar. Functional grammar and functional stylistics have a lot in common. They both emphasize on linguistic functions and different grammatical structures such as thematic structures and transitivity in clause produced by linguistic functions. (Zhang, 1998: 1-2)II. Functional stylistic analysi

24、s of The Scarlet Letter 2.1. Traditional Definition of Transitivity “The term transitivity derives from the conventional terminology (in)transitive. In conventional grammar, transitivity means the state of being a transitive verb. In this sense, one can speak of the transitivity of the verb saw in t

25、he sentence; they saw the accident” ( Ricards and Schmidt, 1992: 562). Traditionally, transitivity is normally understood as the grammatical feature which indicates if a verb takes a direct object, it is described as transitive; and it is called intransitive, if it does not. An extension of this con

26、cept is the ditransitive verb, which takes both a direct and an indirect object.2.2 Hallidays Approach The concept of transitivity in Hallidays Introduction to Functional Grammar represents a further development of the concept. “Our most powerful impression of experience is that it consists of going

27、s-on-happening, doing, sensing, meaning, and being and becoming. All these goings-on are sorted out in the grammar of the clause. Thus as well as being a mode of action, of giving and demanding goods-&-services and information, the clause is also a mode of reflection, of imposing order on the endles

28、s variation and flow of events. The grammatical system by which this is achieved is TRANSITIVITY” (Halliday, 2000: 106).Transitivity specifies the different types of processes that are recognized in language. Generally speaking, processes are realized by verbal groups, participants by nominal groups

29、, and circumstances by adverbial or prepositional groups. Halliday lays stress on the function of verbs in a clause. Among the three elements of transitivity, processes (verbal groups) are regarded as pivotal elements located at the centre of the transitivity diagram. (Butt ed al, 1995: 40) Material

30、, mental and relational are the three main types of process in the English transitivity system. But we also find further categories located at the three boundaries; not so clearly set apart, but nevertheless recognizable in the grammar as intermediate between the different pairssharing some features

31、 of each, and thus acquiring a character of their own. On the borderline between material and mental are the behavioral processes: those that represent outer manifestations of inner workings, the acting out of processes of consciousness and physiological states. On the borderline of mental and relat

32、ional is the category of verbal processes: symbolic relationships constructed in human consciousness and enacted in the form of language, like saying and meaning. And on the borderline between the relational and material are the processes concerned with existence, the existential,by which phenomena

33、of all kinds are simply recognized to beto exist , or to happen. This closes the crircle. ( Halliday, 2000:107)2.3. Transitivity and Characterization in The Scarlet Letter2.3.1.Transitivity Analysis of Hester Prynne In the context of Puritanist society, Hester could do nothing but endure the sufferi

34、ng and condemnation from the outside. This can be found in The Market-place. When she appeared from the prison, curses, abuses flung upon her. “Finding no relief from the outside world, Hester could do nothing but seek relief from the inside world the world of her memories and her imagination” (Leav

35、itt, 1997:115). “Standing on that miserable eminence, she saw again her native village, in Old England, and her paternal home; a decayed house of gray stone, with a povertystricken aspect, but retaining a half obliterated shield of arms over the portal, in token of antique gentility. She saw her fat

36、hers face ,with its bald brow, and reverend white beard, that flowed over the old-fashioned Elizabethan ruff; her mothers, too, with the look of heedful and anxious love which always wore in her remembrance, and which, even since her death, had so often laid the impediment of a gentle remonstrance i

37、n her daughters pathway. She saw her own face, glowing with girlish beauty, and illuminating all the interior of the dusky mirror in which she had been wont to gaze at it” (Hawthorne, 1992: 79). Drowned with the abuses from the people, Hester was in the situation that she had committed a sin which w

38、as in the eyes of the Puritanism, certainly unpardonable. Helpless and desperate, what she could do was nothing but remembrance of the past. This can be seen through transitivity analysis. The transitivity process is a mental one,which shows Hesters helplessness and low transitivity value. Though co

39、ndemned and cast off by the society, Hester didnt give up the hope to live on. She earn her living by doing needlework, which she excelled at. “In this little, lonesome dwelling , with some slender means that she possessed , and by the license of the magistrates, who still kept an inquisitorial watc

40、h over her, Hester established herself , with her infant child. Lonely as was Hesters situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she, however, incurred no risk of want. She possessed an art that sufficed, even in a land that afforded comparatively little scope for its exerci

41、se , to supply food for her thriving infant and herself.Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity ,on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not infrequently insulted the hand that fed them.”(Hawthorne, 1992: 107). Compared with the mere mental process mentioned above, the sentence

42、s quoted present the readers with material process like possess, bestow and so on. Living in a isolated world of her own, Hester developed the habit of meditating the theme sin. “In this matter of Hester Prynne, there was neither irritation nor irksomeness. She never battled with the public, but sub

43、mitted, uncomplainingly, to its worst usage; she made no claim upon it, in requital for what she suffered; she did not weigh upon its sympathies ” (194). What we have here is the material process in its negative form , showing that Hester has a new understanding of her sin , doing what she can to he

44、lp the poor and never battles with people. In this way she is atoning for her sin .This also has the thematic meaning: the meaning of the symbol “A” changes from Adultery to Able. Outcast from the society as Hester was, Hester did not give up the hope of life. With almost no one willing to approach

45、her, Hester formed the habit of speculating her “sin”. “She had wandered, without the rule or guidance , in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest, amid the gloom of which they were now holding a colloquy that was to decide their fate. Her intellect and heart ha

46、d their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods. For years past she looked from this estranged point of view at human institutions, and whatever priests or legislators had established ; criticizing all with hardly more reverence than the Indian

47、would feel for the clerical band, the judicial robe, the pillory, the gallows, the fireside, or the church. The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her

48、 teachersstern and wild ones-and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss. (239-240) The afore-quoted shows us clearly the big change undergoing in Hesters reflections upon life, and in her character. The big “A” is bestowed with a wholly new meaning: Amiable, Angel. She starts to grow mo

49、re saintly, as can be through the Processes. In this part, a special attention is to be paid to the relational process: Her intellect(Carrier) and heart had their home(Attribute). The scarlet letter (Token) was her passport(Value) into region. The tendency of her fate and fortunes (Carrier) had been to set her free( Attribute). These (Token ) had been her teachers(Value) and so on and so forth.III. Conclusion: Transitivity patterns represent the enc