讲座：Image Construction through Meaning Choices: A Systemic-functional Analysis of Fathers’ Letters in Dad Where Are We Going

主讲：杨雪燕教授（北京外国语大学英语学院英语系）

时间：2016年1月12日（星期二）上午8:20-9:30

地点：yl6809永利官网509室

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.

杨雪燕教授简介

杨雪燕，博士，北京外国语大学英语学院英语系教授，中国英汉语比较研究会功能语言学专业委员会常务理事，中国英汉语比较研究会英汉语篇分析专业委员会常务理事，中国修辞学会文体学研究会常务理事，国际系统功能语言学研究会会员，浙江海洋大学兼职教授。其主要研究方向包括功能语言学；话语分析；文体学；应用语言学，教授课程包括系统功能语法、语篇分析、笔译等。杨雪燕教授曾在美国弗吉尼亚大学以及英国兰卡斯特大学访学。先后主持或承担过不同级别的科研项目多项, 作为编委参与编撰《新时代汉英大词典》；在英国出版专著一部；发表学术论文40 余篇，其中21 篇发表在CSSCI 刊物上。

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