ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY – LEBANON FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF DULCE ET DECORUM EST by Owen
RESEARCH SUBMITTED TO
DR HAYAT AL‐ KHATIB ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE PROGRAMME COORDINATOR IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF UNITED
KINGDOM OPEN UNIVERSITY/ ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY BACHELOR DEGREE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE BY TAMARA AL‐RIFAI MAY 2010 Introduction Language is a tool powered by patterns of thinking and geared to represent one's thoughts , feelings, and experiences. Jannedy(1991 defines language as a communication system that must have the following features: a mode of communication where the messages are transmitted , semanticity “the signals have meaning”, and pragmatic function “the signals serve a useful purpose”. Language is not an abstract construction build upon dictionary markers but has ambiguity “the meaning is open to different interpretations”, it is a guide to social reality, we can understand culture through words and grammar. The aim of my investigation is to analyze the lexicogrammatical features in the poem Dulce et Decorum est by Owen , and how the poet uses these features to uncover hidden ideology “is it sweet and fitting to die for your country?” What was captivated in this poem is not the uniqueness of the topic, but its theme which focused my attention on a reality suffered by many people all around the world. Suffering from “war” is applicable to all countries , all generations, and all times. Owen understood the “BIG LIE” that was disguised by many excuses to promote the fatal destiny of “death” The idea that a literary text written almost a hundred years ago maybe linked to present –day reality seems to be both fascinating and scaring. Fascinating because when reading a literary text we get involved with the characters and sometimes identify ourselves with their thoughts and actions, and wonder what we would do if it happened to us in real life. On the other hand, it is scary to think that negative aspects of it are happening in our society, and we are not doing anything about it other than accepting the rules or pretending unaware of its repercussions! Literature Review When people use language to express meaning, they do so in specific situation and for specific purpose “persuade , reject , etc…”Systematic Functional Grammar looks at language as a set of systems, each of which offers the writer the choice of expressing meanings, Halliday (1085) classifies the ways in which human beings used language into three broad categories: the ideational in which language is used to organize , understand, and express our perception of the world, interpersonal where language is used to enable us to participate in communicative acts with other people, to take on roles to express and create feelings, attitudes and judgments, and textual which focuses on the language used to relate what is said or written to the real world , this involves the use of language to organize the text through selecting a channel for communicating the message. A functional approach to language means the investigation of how language is used, trying to find out what are the purposes that language serves in the transmission of meaning and how we are able to achieve specific purposes through speaking , listening, reading , and writing. It means to explain the nature of language in functional terms assessing whether language itself has been shaped by use, and if so, in what ways? "How the form of language has been determined by the function it has evolved to serve”(Halliday,1973) Critical discourse analysis stems from a critical theory on language which sees the use of language as a form of social practice tied to specific historical contexts and social relations. The reproduction of the related texts are contested or confirmed and different interests are served. The questions raised pertain to how are the texts positioned? Or how are the texts positioning readers? Whose interests are served by this positioning? Whose interests are negated? What are the consequences of this positioning that relate discourse to notions of power, and how does the analysis seek to explain how discourse is implicated, in relations of power CDA attempts to uncover the underlying ideology or worldview of the text under consideration . Fairclough (1989,1995), Fowler (1977,1986) and Trew (1979) adopt various linguistic frameworks of analysis including transitivity and modality to uncover ideas in texts and to reveal that they are not objective narrations retelling what actually happened or occurred but are socially and ideologically motivated. Abrams( 2004, p:148) argues that ideology is the set of beliefs , values and ways of thinking and feeling through which human beings perceive the world and its relations. Eagleton(2004) has an exposition of the relationship between reality , ideology , and literature , which can be used to explain relationship between ideology and interpretation , reality and art or literature work upon each other through the interaction of ideology. According to the above theories, texts do not reflect historical reality but rather work upon ideology to produce and influence a transformed text. Methodology The Case study Every case or study is paired with a different methodology appropriate to the aim of the case being observed, I chose to apply the Hallidayan frame work in the analysis of the subject matter of the poem and critical discourse analysis in uncovering the hidden ideology behind writing this poem. Vocabulary and grammar are not two separate parts of a language system but they co‐exist as a unit in a very complex relationship, so instead of talking about verb and grammar as two separate phenomena we talk about lexicogrammar , it is a typical way in which words tend to be linked to one another in a systematic and predictable manner by people through communication. The understanding of a text depends on understanding the relationship between context of situation , meaning (semantic)and wording (lexicogrammar)of language using the systematic functional modeling of language as a theoretical base , we treat meaning as a crossing point which links context to lexicogrammar and we think of lexicogrammar as an interface which links the highly abstract level of meaning to speech and writing. The lexicogrammar analysis , or the SFG (1985;1994 ), enables the analysis of the experiential function of people’s perception of the world through the use of language. As Halliday explains “language enables human beings to build a mental picture of reality to make sense of what goes on around them and inside them”(1994:106) Functional grammar defines metaphors as variations in the expression of meaning rather than just variations in the use of words, functional grammar looks at metaphors from a different perspective not asking how words used? but how the meaning expressed ?or how the grammar structured to make the text effective in the achievement of purpose? metaphors can be located in lexical expressions as well as grammatical variation that accompanies them. In all metaphor according to Halliday (1985, is a verbal transference , a variation in the expression of meanings which involves a non literal use of a word , metaphor is an irregularity of content that consists on the use of a word in a sense different from its proper and related to it in terms of similarity. For a word to function metaphorically it must be used in a context that allows the interpreter to decide what type of linguistic entity he/she is facing , the use of a word is unusual or improper if it appears in a context different from the context in which it normally does, the way the metaphorical word acquire a transferred meaning not because they appear with a specific grammatical category or position but because it is used in a way different from the usual one and the concepts called for are different from those which these terms usually do this unusual use doesn’t depend on the grammatical form it doesn’t seem reasonable to think that a metaphor is a metaphor just because of its grammatical structure Fairclough notes that metaphor can help to convey ideology (1989:119,1995a:74,1995b:94),he also announces to focus on correlatively superficial linguistic features of vocabulary and metaphor(1995b:70 this suggests that metaphor is here reduced to its linguistic realization at the expense of its cognitive force “conveys representational meaning to construct reality from a particular viewpoint”. Qualitative research: Qualitative research study things in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of or to interpret the perceived phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Denzin 1994), qualitative research intends to penetrate to the deeper significance that the subject of the research ascribes to the topic being researched , it involves an interpretive naturalistic approach to its subject matter and gives priority to what the data contribute to important research questions or existing information. The ability to provide complex textual descriptions of how people experience a given research item , it provides the human side of an issue. Ethical issues Since I’m using a publishing data “academic writing”, I’ll acknowledge authorships and sources properly. Data categorization: Lexical choices pronouns adjectives nouns Grammatical choices Material processes Mental processes Modality Lexical Density: Pronouns:18/224x100=8% nouns:46/224x100=20% Adjectives:27/224x100=12% Data Analysis Our words are never neutral Language is a tool used to describe and report reality, it is not only content, but also context and a way to recontextualize context, we don’t just report and describe with the use of language but we create a point of view a context within which we know reality and orient our actions. Discourse analysis challenges us to move from seeing language as an abstract entity but words have meaning in a particular historical , social , and political condition, words are used to convey a broad sense of meanings that we should be conscious of, our words are never neutral(Fiske, 1994) Systematic functional theory views language as a resource people use to accomplish their purposes by expressing meanings in context. Halliday (195:7‐11)describes the fundamental concepts of this theory , saying that language exists and must be studied in various contexts , the analysis in this paper will depend on the field “the topic and actions which language expresses” , tenor “denotes language users , their relationships , and their purposes. This text is a poem , The theme of the poem exposes the brutality of war. Owen through the selection of lexis tried to raise the readers ‘ attention and awareness on how people suffer from war. The poet contradicts the false hopes of attaining honor , pride and great sense of nationalism by listing the struggle of his own personal experience of witnessing the death of a soldier and portraying a contradictory image that people suppose to see as fighting courageously and ferociously maintaining a never ceasing pride but in reality they are suffering , dying , and rotting away miserably. The poet allows the reader to attain a greater insight to the struggles masked in war evoking compassion for the soldiers and ridiculing towards the false impressions of war , dreams become nightmares as soldiers open their eyes to the consciousness of the intense horror behind war and their national pride is no more considered. The subject is very controversial which has been the focus of many people through centuries , SFG allows for fine discrimination between lexical and grammatical items that are expressed through the field and the tenor of the discourse , it is necessary to begin with a broad category of genre(Eggins 1994:43)which allows us to go deeper into the analysis of the social context “ideologies and beliefs” and interpersonal relationships. Genre is how people use language to achieve culturally appropriate goals and is seen as a manifestation of language choices with a special purpose(Eggins1994:25), we must examine first the lexico‐grammatical features in the text to confirm that the text has achieved its social purpose . The specific context of situation here is that it is a poem , where ultimately the attraction is gained through the poet’s ideas, due to the fact that the speaker is not visible to the reader there is a one‐ side approach to interpret the social distance. The poet’s ideologies and beliefs expressed in negative words such as “beggars, blood –shot, blind, fatigue, outstripped, fumbling, guttering, chocking ,drowning, devil, sin, bitter, cancer, incurable, lie..” His beliefs can be considered as revolving around the ideas of war and its negative consequences. The speaker’s language choices are influenced by the field of the discourse i.e. what the text is about (Halliday et. al 1964:90‐92). This is done by conveying the experiential meanings of processes , participants and circumstances. Experiential meaning: Identifying of processes Material Mental Verbal Bent,turned,began,lost, Saw, plunges, watch , Tell, yelling Knock, marched, hear limped, went, drunk, dropped, fitting,flound’ring, drawning, guttering, chocking, There is a significant number of material processes , referring to actions of suffering , torturing and death which indicate the topic of discussion. Also the participants and circumstances will enable us define the field of the discourse. When modeling communication , speakers adjust their language according to whom they speak , what type of exchange is underway and what their attitudes are. Language choices that come from this variable of human interaction belong to the category of tenor (Halliday et al. 1964:90‐94) The poet is decreasing the distance between himself and the participants in the poem “the soldiers” through the use of personal pronouns “I” , “we” inclusive and to position the reader not as an outside viewer but as a participant when addressing him/her with “you”, modality is expressed through the modal finites of probability “would, could” and obligation “should”. The adjectives used in the poem add a negative connotation and reflect the gloomy atmosphere of death and suffering “lame , blind, corrupted , incurable , desperate…..” the poet didn’t chose them arbitrary but the purpose behind was to highlight a reality which is war , adjectives add a high negative value to the poem Lexical verbs : Owen used verbs that show suffering , for example he used the word trudge “to walk heavily” instead of walk to show his negative attitude towards what is happening The nouns also related to the subject matter of the poem , the use of word “gas” is to raise awareness on the danger accompanied by world war ii which is the gas pollution which has an incurable effect on the lungs. Owen as anti‐war poet , represents his method for uncovering the deep structure of cultural beliefs systems by identifying recurring images, metaphors , and similes, contained within his poem, how elements of psychic life are projected into ideologies and cultural forms . In lines 1 and 2 soldiers are portrayed as beggars , damned as curse , marched asleep “5”how can a person march asleep? Drunk with fatigue “7” , in line 9 , how is suffocating of gas is an act of ecstasy or happiness ,” line 17”, the poet described precisely the sea as green how can it be? “Line 2o” the devil is sick of sins, “line 21”how can we hear at every moment the blood ? “line 26”why glory is desperate ? “line 27” why dulce et decorum est is an old lie? The irony in this poem is obvious , Owen uses an ecstasy of fumbling to describe the men clambering for their gas masks during the attack , this combination of words is both surprising and disturbing , since we would not link the ideas of fumbling or grouping awkwardly with ecstasy , this deviation in diction highlights the discrepancy between our society’s beliefs about war and the actuality of it. Findings The high frequency of material processes indicates the atmosphere of the poem with a quick rhythm that keeps the reader tensioned , the use of present tense to feel the reader that he/she is there. “men marched asleep”, “guttering, chocking, drowning”, The use of pronouns to show that the poet himself was in the battle field as one of the soldiers in the troop. “I saw him drowning”, “we flung him in” Poem as a speech: The use of punctuation , commas in the middle of the lines , dashes , hyphens, exclamation marks , periods, cause the poem to sound conversational we read, he’s communicating with the audience to broaden their thinking and connect familiar concepts “to die for one’s country” to unfamiliar concept “to suffer bitterly for a desperate glory” Owen’s poetry reveals an ironic distrust of all the traditional ideologies , which have kept soldiers fighting , the theme is “it is honourable to die for your country , but intended as irony , the description of the battlefield has a very realistic details, “an ecstasy of fumbling” it is about gas attack , gas began with the WWii weapon which raised moral problems visualized here “ if in some smothering dreams ….that we flung him in , and watched the blood gargling from the forth corrupted lungs , there is no comforting image , he was in the trenches himself and experienced all the horrors , he knows that there is nothing glorious in dying in the trenches and the lie was generalized and were told to children. The ideology Owen tried to shed a light on through the use of poetic techniques , is that he is an anti war poet and his aim was to prove to the general audience is that dying for your country is worthless , not a heroic act but an act of committing suicide and this lie Dulce et Decorum est shouldn’t be passed to generations and should be changed by time. Conclusion: Language has the capacity to shape people’s thoughts, ideologies , and perceptions of the world , depending on the speaker’s ideology and experience “the message trying to pass on” through the selection of lexical and grammar structures. To refer to the poem , Owen selected heavy lexis that holds within negative connotation just to prove to the reader that war is worthless, and has bad consequences on people , as an example the use of word “sludge, ” instead of mud , trudge instead of walk…. Metaphors , irony, similes have the same effect on readers , how can it be that dying for your country is something not sweet and the matter of patriotism is a big lie. Owen through the selectivity of lexical and grammatical choices , was able to recreate and impose his own new experiences and ideologies in which it can be considered somehow a hidden truth. References: Halliday , M.A.K (1985b), “An Introduction to Functional Grammar”,London: Edward Arnold Black, M.(1995), “Metaphor , proceedings of the Aristotelian society 55:273‐294 Fairclough , N.(1995) “Critical Discourse Analysis, Singapore: Longman Singapore Publishers (Pte)Ltd DULCE ET DECORUM EST
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
2
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
3
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
4
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
5
6
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
7
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
8
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
9
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
10
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning.
1
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
12
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
13
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
14
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
15