An Attitude Study On The Conflict Talk Between Mother-in-Law And Daughter-in-law In Double-sided Adhesive From Appraisal Theory Perspective

Conflict talk between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is ubiquitous in Chinese family. In the conflict talk, both communicative parties will adopt various resources to organize their utterances and take stances, or even try to persuade the other party. Therefore, it is of great linguistic value to examine these resources and investigate how these two communicative parties have taken stances, In this field, the feasibility of Appraisal Theory is still in the exploratory stage. Therefore, this article, taking the episodes of conflict talk between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the novel Double-sided Adhesive as research materials, aims to analyze the attitudinal meanings in the research data, thus testifying the feasibility of Appraisal Theory and helping deepen the understanding of conflict talk between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.In this study, both quantitative and qualitative approaches are involved. Firstly, based on the definition of conflict talk, the corresponding materials in the novel are identified. Secondly, all the attitude resources are tagged according to the Appraisal Theory. Thirdly, the statistical data of the appraisal resources are collected, including the frequency of the three subtype resources as well as the distribution of negative and positive situations. Lastly, data tables for each system are drawn out. It is discovered that, the attitudinal meanings are more frequently realized by the use of judgement and affect, which shows that the speakers concern more about the affective domain and the evaluation of human behaviors or assumptions. As for the difference, it is found that inside the affect system, the mother-in-law presents a balanced pattern so as to foreground her feelings and establish sympathy; while on the daughter-in-law’s side, her use of unhappiness and dissatisfaction resources entails her refusal to build solidarity with the mother-in-law and her inclination to declare ruling power in the house. In terms of the judgement system, the mother-in-law prefers to judge under the doctrine of traditional family ethics, while the daughter-in-law tends to make judgements from the perspective of common social practices. As a conclusion, it is discovered that the differences in attitude construction strategies is influenced by the two interlocutors’ different perceptions on marriage and family; it is a demonstration of the conflict between traditional family ethics and modern spirit of equality as well as a reflection of rural and urban differences.