| Language is a means of conveying information and expressing ideas,and its grammatical structure and expression form are both the response of the real world to a certain extent.With the deterioration of ecological environment in modern society,linguists try to explore ecological issues in the field of language and study the role of discourse in environmental issues.Ecological linguistics has become a new subject.The documentary Human Planet,produced by British Broadcasting Corporation,is a natural documentary which is a reflection of human beings and nature and a deeply thought of the relationship between them.It aims to arouse people's awareness of ecological and environmental protection.Therefore,its commentaries have the unique meaning and convey the attitude towards human and nature.In Systemic Functional Linguistics,appraisal theory is the complement and development of interpersonal function in Halliday's meta-function of language,evaluating all kinds of negotiable attitudes in the discourse.Appraisal theory can be used to analyze the speaker's standpoint and viewpoint,which conveys certain emotional attitudes.So,this thesis mainly takes the attitude system in appraisal theory to make the ecological discourse analysis of the natural documentary Human Planet,analyzing the attitude resources in this documentary,and explores how the ecological ideologies are conveyed at the linguistic level.The three main research questions are as follows.First,what attitude resources are involved and what are its distribution features in natural documentary Human Planet?Second,what are ecological language features of natural documentary Human Planet? Last,what ecological ideas are expressed in natural documentary Human Planet ?Through analysis and discussion of data,it is found that the documentary involves three kinds of attitude resources,that is,affect,judgement and appreciation resources.Among them,judgement and appreciation resources account for a larger proportion,and their number are 282 and 295,accounting for 40% and 41%respectively.The documentary regards nonhumans as behavioral agents who have ability to action,and makes an attitude evaluation of their behaviors;At the same time,the documentary thinks things in nature always have their own unique value and irreplaceable importance,and makes a positive appreciation of them.Besides,this documentary aims to show man and nature,and human is not the only theme in documentary.Therefore,the number of affect resources is 132,accounting for 19%,which is less than judgment and appreciation resources.In addition,the documentary has some the ecological language features: nominalizations,reciprocal verbs,non-human agents and ergative structures;Moreover,this documentary affirms non-humans' ability and emphasizes their value and importance;It also promotes the idea of equality among human beings and animals and plants: they are equal and both are part of nature;Most importantly,human and nature develop together and they are interdependent and closely interrelated.By the discourse analysis of Human Planet based on attitude system and green grammar,this study has explored the natural documentary's interpersonal meaning and ecological ideas,which can help people realize the importance and severity of environmental problems,and awaken their awareness of ecological protection,achieving harmony and prosperity of human beings and nature. |
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