A Study On The Characters Of Tang Monk And His Disciples From The Perspective Of Conversation Analysis Theor

Conversational analysis,pioneered by Sacks and other sociologists,is an important branch of discourse analysis,whose research object is natural conversation.Adapted from Journey to the West,one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature,the TV series Journey to the West of 1986 version is still popular among audiences decades.Based on the conversations of the characters in ten episodes of the TV series,this thesis studies the characters’ images by using the theory of conversational analysis,analyzing and summarizing the overall structure and local structure of the conversations.Additionally,this thesis also discusses the examples of the turn-taking rules and the turn-taking strategies of the conversations in which the characters obey or violate the rules then figures out the reasons.Based on the above researches,quantitative analysis is used to analyze the image features of monk Tang,monkey king,Zhu bajie and monk Sha from the perspective of turn-taking system.Through the research,it is found that the characters’ conversational structure and turn-taking have certain similarities and differences with daily conversations.There are two methods to make a conversation: Make a conversation directly with the topic or make a conversation firstly with names.There are great differences in the frequency of monk Tang,monkey king,Zhu bajie and monk Sha as subjects of making conversations,which is caused by the plot design and characters’ personalities.The ending of the conversations includes the preclosing sequence,the topic bounding sequence and the closing sequence.What’s more,the sequence structure of the turn is dominated by adjacent pairs.The main language units of the turn are single sentences.Designing unconventional and conventional methods of turn-taking,limiting the type and the length of the turn can not only make the dramatic conflicts,but also reveal the psychological state and personality characteristics of the characters.The four main characters have distinctive personalities.Monkey King and Zhu bajie are the combination of “animal nature” and “human nature”.Monkey King has rebellious impulse and irritability,but he does not lack of benevolence and justice.Zhu bajie is negligent and reluctant to the mortal world.But he is also open-minded and extrovert.Monk Tang possesses both “human nature” and “Buddha nature”.He has a strong will,a kind heart,but he cannot tell the goodness and badness,so he is also a holy fool.Although monk Sha is the most mediocre among the four,he works hard and never say never.He plays a role of reconciliation that cannot be ignored among the four.Based on the linguistic theory,this study interprets the characters’ image in the TV series,which makes the analysis of character image more objective.At the same time,it opens up a new perspective for the study of drama and other related literature,hoping to provide references for the academic research combining linguistics and literature.