The Realization Of Grammatical Metaphor In Register

The study of grammatical metaphor is an indispensable part to the development of functional grammar.Since Halliday and Martin propose the term of grammatical metaphor one after another,which is totally different from the metaphor in the figure of speech and the metaphor in cognitive linguistics,discussions and investigations about grammatical metaphor never stop.In recent years,more and more explorations of grammatical metaphor can be found in some other fields in linguistics like register,developing grammatical metaphor theory continually.Researches at present have already found that the deviation of register directly produces grammatical metaphor.However,most of them are limited to applied texts,and few of them involve literary works.Therefore,this thesis takes Walden as an example,showing that register deviation can still create grammatical metaphor in literary discourse.Walden,or Life in the Woods was first released in 1854,which is the representative by Henry David Thoreau and a huge treasure trove of thoughts and philosophy for people in the whole world.Even until today,it has many readers all over the world.The linguistic research of this great work can be studied from many perspectives,but the perspective of grammatical metaphor is rarely found.This thesis tries to express and explain in this way intending to make them as accessible as possible to grammatical metaphor theory and register theory.The theoretical framework is grammatical metaphor theory and register theory.Besides,this thesis based on the definition of Lin Zhengjun’s grammatical metaphor in a broad sense.And research methods are the combination of introspection and empirical approach.This thesis mainly discusses three questions: 1.How does grammatical metaphor realize in register in Walden? That is,how does the congruent form transform into grammatical form in the deviation of field,mode,and tenor? 2.For what reasons that the author needs to alter the field,mode and tenor,producing grammatical metaphor? 3.The real intention that the writer wants to convey underlying the grammatical metaphor.The thesis basically concerns how situational context leads to grammatical metaphor,namely how field,mode,and tenor changes congruent form into metaphorical form.As part of a larger study into grammatical metaphor,this small-scale study focuses on application of grammatical metaphor in literature—Walden,especially,seeking to identify what causes grammatical metaphor and what hides behind the metaphorical form in Walden.The research shows that,at first,there are a large number of grammatical metaphors in Walden.We regard the linguistic form conforming to register as congruent form,and treat the linguistic form different from register as metaphorical from.In order to better present his intentional meaning,the writer can create a metaphorical form with a change of register,which is totally different from congruent form.In the field,by analyzing the field of each chapter and clauses,we find that the writer generates field deviation by altering the original topic,from house construction to state construction;from natural law to social law;from voice of train to voice of industrialization,etc.There is a close semantic relation between congruent forms and grammatical forms,emerging grammatical metaphor.In the mode,Walden should have been written in written language(congruent form),however,we can find a group of daily conservations(metaphorical form)in the book,which is the first mode deviation;Moreover,Thoreau intends to persuade readers by Walden,but he transforms persuasive mode(congruent form)into narrative mode(metaphorical form),which is the second mode deviation;And Thoreau uses a large number of foreign and ancient languages(metaphorical form)to replace modern English(congruent form),implying some acute social phenomena at that time,which is the third mode deviation.In the Tenor,the language should conform to the status of writer.However,Thoreau mixes the first-person and the second-person together.In Walden,when Thoreau communicates with readers,the second person sometimes refers to reader(congruent form),but in most of the time,it refers to Thoreau himself(metaphorical form).And this transformation breaks up the boundary between the author and readers,which makes readers resonate with the writer.Next,America is in a turbulence of social reformation in the nineteenth century,and the Transcendentalism advocated by Thoreau is not accepted by the society which is full of temptation of material.Therefore,Thoreau borrows grammatical metaphor,trying to guide the thought of readers.At last,through register deviation,Walden presents grammatical metaphor,further expressing the author’s intentional meaning underlying linguistic forms——the critique and hope to the society at that time.The conclusion of this research extends the application of grammatical metaphor theory in register,demonstrating the influence of register deviation to grammatical metaphor still exist in literary discourse.