Grammatical metaphor J R Martin Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney

1. Grammatical metaphor J R Martin Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney

2. 1. Grammatical metaphor

3. - grammatical metaphor... • at Manly wharf • [Dad, reading sign] ‘Seven miles from Sydney and 1000 miles from care’ • [Phoebe, age 4] - Where’s Care? • - in a Manly bakeshop • [Xian] I wonder if I could have one of those... • [Server] - Why do you wonder? It’s right there in front of you.

10. 2. Ideational grammatical metaphor

11. - 'concrete' (‘when I was a child I spake as a child’) I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free - free in every way that I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother's hut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as I obeyed my father and abided by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the laws of man or God. [Mandela 1995: 750-751] participant as Thing (noun) I, fields, hut, stream, village, mealies, stars, bulls, father... quality as Epithet (adjective) free, clear, broad process as Process (verb) was born, to run, to swim, to roast, rise, obeyed... logical relation as Textual Theme (conjunction) as long as

13. ‘freedom’ as quality (adjective) ‘freedom’ as thing (noun) I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free - free in every way that I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother's hut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as I obeyed my father and abided by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the laws of man or God. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion, when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my potential, of earning my keep, of marrying and having a family - the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life.

14. ‘walking’ as a process (verb) ‘walking’ as a thing (noun) I have walked that long road to freedom. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger,for my long walk is not yet ended.

15. ‘freedom’ as an object of desire... Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my potential, of earning my keep, of marrying and having a family. ‘freedom’ as a catalyst of change... It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and self-respect that animated my life, that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, that forced a life-loving man to live like a monk.

16. cause... It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and self-respect... effects... - that animated my life, - that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, - that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, - that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, - that forced a life-loving man to live like a monk.

17. ‘cause’ between clauses - in more ‘spoken’ language... I wanted my people to be free and so my life became animated and so a frightened young man became bold and so a law-abiding attorney became a criminal and so a family-loving husband became a man without a home and so a life-loving man lived like a monk

18. ‘cause’ in the clause (Agent affecting Medium) • in more ‘written’ language... This desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity and self-respect animated my life, transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, forced a life-loving man to live like a monk.

20. 3. Ideational grammatical metaphor 3.1 constructing knowledge in social science (Bernstein - sociology)

21. - Bernstein changing gears... Consider a situation where a small holder meets another and complains that what he/she had done every year with great success, this year failed completely. The other says that when this happened he/she finds that this 'works'. He/she then outlines the successful strategy. Now any restriction to circulation and exchange reduces effectiveness. Any restriction specialises, classifies and privatises knowledge. Stratification procedures produce distributive rules which control the flow of procedures from reservoir to repertoire. Thus both Vertical and Horizontal discourses are likely to operate with distributive rules which set up positions of defence and challenge.

22. - writing as we speak (another Basil Bernstein example) Imagine four lavatories. The first is stark, bare, pristine, the walls are painted a sharp white; the washbowl is like the apparatus, a gleaming white. A square block of soap sits cleanly in an indentation in the sink. A white towel (or perhaps pink) is folded neatly on the chrome rail or hangs from a chrome ring. The lavatory paper is hidden in a cover, and peeps through its slit. participants as nouns: lavatory, walls, washbowl, apparatus, soap, sink, towel, rail, ring, paper • qualities as adjectives: • stark, bare, pristine, white, square • processes as verbs: • imagine, are painted, sits, is folded, hangs, is hidden, peeps

23. - writing as we speak (another Basil Bernstein example) Imagine four lavatories. The first is stark, bare, pristine, the walls are painted a sharp white; the washbowl is like the apparatus, a gleaming white. A square block of soap sits cleanly in an indentation in the sink. A white towel (or perhaps pink) is folded neatly on the chrome rail or hangs from a chrome ring. The lavatory paper is hidden in a cover, and peeps through its slit. participants as nouns: lavatory, wall, washbowl, apparatus, soap, sink, towel, rail, ring, paper

24. - writing as we speak (another Basil Bernstein example) Imagine four lavatories. The first is stark, bare, pristine, the walls are painted a sharp white; the washbowl is like the apparatus, a gleaming white. A square block of soap sits cleanly in an indentation in the sink. A white towel (or perhaps pink) is folded neatly on the chrome rail or hangs from a chrome ring. The lavatory paper is hidden in a cover, and peeps through its slit. participants as nouns: lavatory, walls, washbowl, apparatus, soap, sink, towel, rail, ring, paper • qualities as adjectives: • stark, bare, pristine, white, square

25. - writing as we speak (another Basil Bernstein example) Imagine four lavatories. The first is stark, bare, pristine, the walls are painted a sharp white; the washbowl is like the apparatus, a gleaming white. A square block of soap sits cleanly in an indentation in the sink. A white towel (or perhaps pink) is folded neatly on the chrome rail or hangs from a chrome ring. The lavatory paper is hidden in a cover, and peeps through its slit. participants as nouns: lavatory, walls, washbowl, apparatus, soap, sink, towel, rail, ring, paper • qualities as adjectives: • stark, bare, pristine, white, square • processes as verbs: • imagine, are painted, sits, is folded, hangs, is hidden, peeps

27. - towards writing as we write... In the second lavatory there are books on a shelf, pictures on the wall, and some relaxing of the rigours of the first. In the third lavatory there are books on the shelf, pictures on the wall, and perhaps a scattering of tiny objects. In the fourth lavatory the rigour is totally relaxed. The walls are covered with a motley array of postcards, there is a wide assortment of reading matter and curio. The lavatory roll is likely to be uncovered and the holder may well fall apart in use. • nominalising (processes as things): • some relaxing of the rigours of the first • [not organised as strictly] • a scattering of tiny objects • [tiny objects are scattered (about)] • in use • [when used]

29. - written explanations... We can say that as we move from the first to the fourth lavatory we are moving from a strongly classified to a weakly classified space; from a space regulated by strong rules of exclusion to a space regulated by weak rules of exclusion. [Bernstein 1975: 153] 'cause in the clause' (nominalised processes as Agents): a space regulated by strong rules of exclusion

30. - drifting from exemplification to theory (Maton’s semantic gravity)... Imagine four lavatories. The first is stark, bare, pristine, the walls are painted a sharp white; the washbowl is like the apparatus, a gleaming white. A square block of soap sits cleanly in an indentation in the sink. A white towel (or perhaps pink) is folded neatly on the chrome rail or hangs from a chrome ring. The lavatory paper is hidden in a cover, and peeps through its slit. In the second lavatory there are books on a shelf, pictures on the wall, and some relaxing of the rigours of the first. In the third lavatory there are books on the shelf, pictures on the wall, and perhaps a scattering of tiny objects. In the fourth lavatory the rigour is totally relaxed. The walls are covered with a motley array of postcards, there is a wide assortment of reading matter and curio. The lavatory roll is likely to be uncovered and the holder may well fall apart in use. We can say that as we move from the first to the fourth lavatory we are moving from a strongly classified to a weakly classified space; from a space regulated by strong rules of exclusion to a space regulated by weak rules of exclusion. [Bernstein 1975: 153]

31. - Bernstein’s explanatory drift...

33. the pay-off - explanations (Halliday 1998, 2004; Martin & Wodak 2004) Consider a situation where a small holder meets another and complains that what he/she had done every year with great success, this year failed completely. The other says that when this happened he/she finds that this 'works'. He/she then outlines the successful strategy. Now any restriction to circulation and exchange reduces effectiveness. Any restriction specialises, classifies and privatises knowledge. Stratification procedures produce distributive rules which control the flow of procedures from reservoir to repertoire. Thus both Vertical and Horizontal discourses are likely to operate with distributive rules which set up positions of defence and challenge.

34. - finely tuned causality... Now any restriction to circulation and exchange (Agent) reduces effectiveness (Medium) Any restriction (Agent) specialises, classifies and privatises knowledge (Medium) Stratification procedures (Agent) produce distributive rules…(Medium) distributive rules which (Agent) control the flow of procedures from reservoir to repertoire (Medium) ...distributive rules which (Agent) set up position of defence and challenge (Medium)

35. 3.2 Constructing knowledge in humanities (Billig - critical theory)

36. - classifying discourse… • There are several very different transformations which the concept ‘nominalization’ can describe: • Linguistic Nominalization... • Etymological Nominalization... • Psychological Nominalization... • Between-Text Nominalization... • Within-Text Nominalization...

37. - arguing • … explaining how the fact that critical writers themselves use language they critique as distorted might be construed as distorting their own discourse: • Critical writers have argued that nominalization conceals and distorts. Their argument is made through the use of nominalization. Because it uses forms that are said to distort, the argument must itself be distorted. Thus, the critical argument either destroys itself – or reduces itself to a self-referential paradox. Either way, it is seriously compromised.

38. Causal relations in this explanation, both between clauses (via the linkers because, thus) and within them (Halliday's Agent Medium relations) depend on Billig nominalising what critical writers do (i.e. argue that nominalisation conceals and distorts) as an argument... • Critical writers have argued that nominalization conceals and distorts. Their argument is made through the use of nominalization. Because it uses forms that are said to distort, the argument must itself be distorted. Thus, the critical argument either destroys itself – or reduces itself to a self-referential paradox. Either way, it is seriously compromised.

40. Turning to considerations of information flow, Billig begins by referring to critical writers; but his explanation is not about them, it's about their arguments. So their argument is nominalised and re-iterated thereafter as the Theme (pace Halliday) of every clause (bold face red font below): • Critical writers have argued that nominalization conceals and distorts. • Their argument is made through the use of nominalization. • Because it uses forms that are said to distort, • the argument must itself be distorted. • Thus, the critical argument either destroys itself – • or (the argument) reduces itself to a self-referential paradox. • Either way, it is seriously compromised.

41. At the other end of all but one these clauses Billig concentrates on his news, namely, the negative evaluation he is developing of critical writers' argument (bold face below). The bad news involves either negative processes (e.g. distorts) or attributes (e.g. a self-referential paradox): • Critical writers have argued that nominalization conceals and distorts. • Their argument is made through the use of nominalization. • Because it uses forms that are said to distort, • the argument must itself be distorted. • Thus, the critical argument either destroys itself– • or (the argument) reduces itself to a self-referential paradox. • Either way, it is seriously compromised.

42. These negative evaluations highlight another important function of nominalisation - that of affording opportunities for evaluation. As foreshadowed in Trew 1979, resources for both positive and negative evaluation in language key heavily on nominals (cf. Trew's rioting blacks, African demonstrators, thirteen unarmed Africans, Zimbabweans). • And without nominalisation, there would be no affected participant for long-term critics of CDA to pounce upon: • Long-term opponents of critical discourse analysis might pounce gleefully upon the preceding analyses.

43. 3.3 Comparison with lexical metaphor

44. compare lexical metaphor... The lavatory paper is hidden in a cover, and peeps through its slit. • ...a word is used in such a way that: • there are two meanings involved • ['peeping' and 'just visible'] - they are layered (literal/transferred; figure/ground; surface/deep) ['peeping' literal, 'just visible' transferred] - one implies the other (symbolisation) ['looking quickly and secretly' implying 'just visible'

45. vs grammatical metaphor... (Halliday 1994, Simon-Vandenbergen 2003) ...a structure is used in such a way that: a space regulated by strong rules of exclusion • - there are two meanings involved • Medium (affected) a space • Process regulated • Agent (cause) by strong rules of exclusion (Someone) regulated the space xby strongly excluding things by means of rules • - they are layered (literal/transferred; figure/ground; surface/deep...) • Medium process Agent literal • & enhancing clause complex transferred - one implies the other (symbolisation) 'written' Medium process Agent implying 'spoken' enhancing clause complex

46. 3.4. Halliday summary from The Language of Science & Complementarities in Language