15 March 2024

Interacting Discourse Semantic Resources Realising Register And Genre

Ngo, Hood, Martin, Painter, Smith & Zappavigna (2022: 17-8): 

The discourse semantic resources briefly reviewed here are outlined by metafunction in Figure 1.6. 

Space precludes detailed consideration of the interaction of these systems in the realisation of register and genre (for a discussion of which, see Martin, 1992; Martin and Rose, [2003] 2007, 2008).


Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, the use of the term 'interaction' here betrays Martin's misunderstanding of metafunctions and strata as modules, rather than dimensions. Martin (1992: 390, 488):

Each of the presentations of linguistic text forming resources considered above adopted a modular perspective. As far as English Text is concerned this has two main dimensions: stratification and, within strata, metafunction. …
The problem addressed is a fund[a]mental concern of modular models of semiosis — namely, once modules are distinguished, how do they interface? What is the nature of the conversation among components?

[2] To be clear, the authors think discourse semantics realises register and genre because Martin (1992) misunderstands these functional varieties of language as not language, but the context that is realised in language. Claiming that varieties of language are not language is analogous to claiming that dairy and beef cattle are not cattle. Nevertheless, these non-language systems are instantiated as texts, instances of language, in Martin's model.

For a close examination of Martin's model of context, and the evidence supporting this critique, see here (Martin 1992) and here (Martin & Rose 2007).

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