A Study On Discourses In Sons And Lovers From The Perspective Of Context Theory

“Context” is a very important concept in systemic functional linguistics.With the development of linguistics and literature,a lot of scholars have begun to realize that the use and the understanding of language are inseparable from the context.As a result,context theory has gradually become one of the most popular interdisciplinary theories,which is increasingly used in the analysis and research of literary works.The term“context” was first proposed by the Polish anthropologist B.Malinowski in 1923,and later it was developed and improved by other linguists,such as Firth,Halliday,Hymes and Lyons,and gradually became a more mature theory.Context can be divided into two types: linguistic context and non-linguistic context,and then,non-linguistic context can also be subdivided into situational context and cultural context.Context theory can be used to analyze and evaluate the language of characters in literary works precisely,accurately and objectively,which is conducive to have a better appreciation of literature.David Herbert Lawrence is one of the most outstanding British writers in the history of western literature in the 20 th century.In addition,he was also the most controversial writer at that time.Sons and Lovers,known as the masterpiece of Lawrence,established his vital position in the history of literature.Lots of discourses and subtle language of characters are sufficiently used in Lawrence's Sons and Lovers,which could reveal the existence of class struggle in the whole society through the class differences existing in Mr.Morel's family,and the novel was considered to be the true epitome of the society of the time.Discourses can be employed to show the characters' psychology and reveal the identity and the relationship of characters in order to express emotion exactly as well.Therefore,how to understand the discourses between characters correctly is a vital problem in literary works.This thesis emphasizes on the discourses of characters within the whole novel on the basis of context theory.That is to say,the thesis would offer readers an accurate comprehension of characters' discourses from the angles of linguistic context,situational context and cultural context.The thesis aims to find out answers to the following two questions:(1)What functions does linguistic context perform in the analysis of characters' discourses;(2)What effects do situational context and cultural context in non-linguistic context have in the interpretation of characters' discourses.The corpus used in this thesis is derived fromthe characters' discourses in Lawrence's Sons and Lovers,based on context theory.It is a qualitative analysis which is made from two dimensions: linguistic context and non-linguistic context.The analysis of linguistic context occurs on three levels: the word,the phrase and the sentence.Non-linguistic context is focused on situational context and cultural context,which also contain different variables that have different impact on characters' discourses.The thesis consists of three parts.They are the introduction,the main body and the conclusion.The main contents are as follows:The first part is introduction in which the establishment,development and research of context theory are presented.Without the study of context,language cannot be used or understood.Therefore,after its research and development by generations of linguists,context theory is no longer only confined to the fields of linguistics,but it has been increasingly applied in the analysis and research of the literary works.The current study on Lawrence and his representative work Sons and Lovers both abroad and at home are briefly displayed.It also expounds the innovative purpose and the researching significance of this thesis from the perspective of context theory.The second part is the main body,which is divided into three chapters.Chapter One is literature review.The concept,development and classification of context theory are mainly explained in this chapter.The term “context”,known as one of the most significant concepts in systemic functional linguistics,was first put forward by Malinowski,and then it was perfected and developed by Firth,Halliday and other linguists.Context is mainly divided into three categories: linguistic context,situational context and cultural context.Most studies of linguistics and literature cannot be proceeded without the analysis of context,which is exactly the theoretical framework of this thesis.In addition,the studies abroad and at home are also presented.Chapter Two is an analysis of characters' discourses concerning linguistic context.Linguistic context refers to a discourse structure in the process of communication to express a certain meaning,depending on various factors,namely,linguistic factors.This chapter focuses on the accurate understanding of the characters' discourses and the contextual effect from the lexical,phrasal and syntactical level.It can make readers grasp the clue of the plot,and explore the author's elaboration of the choice of words and thebuilding of sentences attentively.Chapter Three is an analysis of characters' discourses concerning non-linguistic context.Non-linguistic context refers to a discourse structure in the process of communication to express a certain meaning depending on the various non-linguistic factors.First of all,situational context can be further analyzed from two points of view:objective and subjective factors.Objective factors include time,place,scene and topic,which are the premise of discourses;while,subjective factors include age,personality,emotion,communicative intention and the relationship between the characters,etc.,which determine characters' different use of words,sentences and mood.Besides,cultural context mainly contains geography,history,culture,social norms,religions,values and other relevant factors.Lawrence is good at seizing the characteristics of their inner world,and using different language in order to achieve specific contextual effect and promote the development of the plot.The last part is conclusion,which presents the summary of the previous analysis,and points out the core opinions of this thesis.This thesis,analyzing discourses in Sons and Lovers from the perspective of context with innovation,has a certain researching significance.Furthermore,it is pointed out that the accurate understanding of characters' discourses in context can make readers have an appreciation of the artistic charm of literary works.It's helpful for applying linguistic theory to literature teaching,researching,and enhancing language learners' practical application ability.Finally,the problems and limitations existing in the research are also presented in this part.