Linguistics and the Human Sciences

The Man (of) Who(m) Laughs

Dina Ferreira — 2021-04-19

This paper analyzes the dialogized heterodiscourse and the ideological-evaluative positions sustained by the social voices moving around the movie Joker (2019). Our theoretical framework is based on the proposals of dialogic discourse analysis (DDA), more specifically, the Bakhtinian notion of (dialogized) heterodiscourse and the Volochinovian concept of ideological sign. The relations and effects of meaning constructed by the film narrative emerge from the dialogical relation of opposition established between the centripetal/dominant speeches and centrifugal/oppositional speeches which, in turn, inscribe different meanings and values in the signs, which are configured as the arena of class struggle among antagonistic social classes.

Investigating Stancetaking in Russian and Chinese

Jim Davie — 2022-02-15

The proposition that stancetaking is pervasive in communication is widely argued (e.g., Halliday, 1978; Ochs, 1990; Englebretson, 2007; Jaffe, 2009). However, as a subject of critical analysis, stance is not typically studied in foreign language courses at UK universities. UK civil servants therefore developed and piloted a course on interpreting stance in Russian and Mandarin Chinese, incorporating Poynton’s (1989 [1985]) extended tenor network and Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Framework. Survey feedback from 53 language analysts and instructor observations indicated, inter alia, that the course helped the majority of learners to enhance their awareness of how stance is expressed in their L2. Responses also highlighted perceived merits and demerits of the course and signalled the value of a larger, gradated offering to optimise course benefit. While preliminary, these results have implications not only for civil service language instructors, but also – potentially – those in higher education.

The Concept of ‘Translation Equivalence’

Van Van Hoang — 2022-06-24

This paper focuses on how Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) conceptualizes translation equivalence (TE) – a concept which seems to resist any satisfactory treatment. To provide background for the study, the paper first examines some widely known formal and non-systemic functional (non-SF) perspectives on TE. Then it presents the SFL perspective on TE, focusing in particular on the current SFL perspective on TE as expounded by Halliday (2001, 2017) and Matthiessen (2001). To demonstrate the ‘appliability’ (Halliday, 2017: 34) and relevance of SFL to TE studies and translation practice, a mini-case study is conducted in which, using the current SFL model as the theoretical framework, the paper analyzes, compares, and establishes equivalent as well as non-equivalent points between a source language text passage from ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ by the American Nobel Laureate in literature, Ernest Hemmingway, and its Vietnamese translated version from ‘Ông già và bien ca’ by Huy Phuong. The study shows that SFL is highly relevant for TE. It is an ‘extravagant’ (Halliday and Martin, 2005: 26), comprehensive, coherent, and multidimensional model of language which can open huge potential for researchers and translators to use it as a theoretical framework for TE studies and translation practice.

The Language and Identity of the German Minority in Poland According to a Language Biographical Study Conducted in Pomerania and Warmia-Masuria Regions

Barbara Alicja Jańczak — 2022-06-24

This paper provides an insight to the language use and identity construction of the German minority inhabiting northern parts of Poland, studied through their language biographies. The border shift after World War II changed the lives of millions of people. For the Germans who decided or were forced to stay in Poland, it meant learning a new language and culture. This study examines the influence of language management on the language biographies and identity constructions of German minority members living in northern parts of Poland. This study uses the tools of discourse analysis and aims to answer the following questions: How did language management at the macro level (primarily the post-war language policy) influence the language biographies of the interviewees regarding their language use? How do the interviewees define their identity and what patterns do they use? The language use amongst the German minority varies greatly, ranging from speakers who are competently bilingual and still use both languages in everyday communication to people who have lost the ability to speak German. One of the factors that influenced this is language management at the macro level, especially the post-war language policy, which not only affected the linguistic situation of Germans in Poland but also contributed to the creation of three different identity patterns.

Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation Studies Edited by Mira Kim, Jeremy Munday, Zhenhua Wang and Pin Wang

Daqun Zhang — 2022-06-24

Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation Studies Edited by Mira Kim, Jeremy Munday, Zhenhua Wang and Pin Wang 2021, Bloomsbury Academic, xvi + 242 pp., ISBN: 978-1-3500-9186-3