Books by Donna Rose Miller
Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Text, 2017
This second edition of Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Text, first published in 2... more This second edition of Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Text, first published in 2004, is an across-the-board revision of that first edition – one that was motivated by our teaching and research experience over the years, but also by explicit student observations. The volume now offers an even more comprehensive introduction ‘about and around’ register theory and analysis. The theoretical input has been substantially fleshed out, as well as thoroughly reworked, as have the practical samples of register analysis. Further changes are detailed in the Preface to the new edition.
But some things remain the same. Our approach to functional varieties of text is still, as it has always been, unapologetically Hallidayan. Indeed, today we are more than ever convinced that the ideal model for educating our NNS of English to language awareness is his functional grammar (FG, Halliday 1985/1994/2004/2014). The reasons for this are, of course, many. To begin with, with what better tool could we carry on our relentless efforts to explode those die-hard myths that would see the study of grammar as a boring and/or elitist enterprise, even one that is basically meaningless? Indeed, FG sets its sights high: to “observe the humanity of our communication processes, not just their form” (Martin 2010: 1-2, our emphasis), or as Christie puts it, to explore “some of the most important and pervasive of the processes by which human beings build their world” (1985/1989: v).
We ultimately aim to guide our students to observing/exploring these processes. And one crucial way to do this is by furnishing them with the tools that FG provides for understanding how language use is not a minor or ‘neutral’ player in the social fields of everyday life (Williams 2016: 339), as well as – why not? – encouraging them to investigate how such awareness can best be put to worthwhile social use. After all, FG is an exceptionally ‘appliable linguistics’ (e.g., Halliday 2002 [2009]: 3), one that successfully challenges the boundaries between theory and practice. And of course, as Halliday insists, “the value of a theory lies in the use that can be made of it” (1985b: 7).
Papers by: Umberto Eco, Gerard Steen, Zoltan Kovecses, Christina Schaffner, Patricia Godbout, Ste... more Papers by: Umberto Eco, Gerard Steen, Zoltan Kovecses, Christina Schaffner, Patricia Godbout, Stefano Arduini, Franco Nasi and several others.
Tradurre Figure / Translating Figurative Language offers 30 original contributions on the interlingual translation of figurative language. The chapters were first presented at an international conference held at the University of Bologna in December 2012 and have been selected through a double peer-reviewed process. Why figurative language in translation? Essentially because figurative language – and the contributions in this book can be seen to prove it – may often foreground the complexities of the translation process, as well as the strong link between language and culture that this process has to renegotiate. Written in either English or Italian, the different contributions of this volume investigate the topic from a wide range of approaches and through several possible language pairs. We are confident that these stimulating and wide-ranging chapters will contribute to casting new light on the practice of translators around the world when dealing with the manifold implications and challenges that figurative language cannot help but pose.
Editors: Donna R. Miller & Enrico Monti
Papers by Donna Rose Miller
Miller, D.R. and Luporini, A. (2018) Software-assisted Systemic Socio-Semantic Stylistics – Appraising tru* in J.M. Coetzee’s Foe, in R. Wegener, A. Oesterle, S. Neumann (eds), On Verbal Art: Essays in Honour of Ruqaiya Hasan. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 53-79., 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or ... more All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
"Introduction : Tradurre Figure/Translating Figurative Language"
Tradurre Figure / Translating Figurative Language, eds. Donna R. Miller & E. Monti, 2014
"Introduction to an edited volume on the interlingual translation of figurative language. The 30 ... more "Introduction to an edited volume on the interlingual translation of figurative language. The 30 chapters of the volume were first presented at an international conference held at the University of Bologna in December 2012 and have been selected through a double peer-reviewed process. Written in either English or Italian, the different contributions of this volume investigate the topic from a wide range of approaches and through several possible language pairs.
Chapters by: Umberto Eco, Gerard Steen, Zoltan Kovecses, Christina Schaffner, Patricia Godbout, Stefano Arduini, Franco Nasi and several others.
Book editors: Donna R. Miller & Enrico Monti"
in Morley, J. and Bayley, P. (eds), Corpus Assisted Discourse Studies on the Iraq Conflict: Wording the War, 2009
The research issue explored in this paper evolved as a challenge to what cognitivist G. Lakoff al... more The research issue explored in this paper evolved as a challenge to what cognitivist G. Lakoff alleges in his Moral Politics (2002 [1996]:11), that is, that, firstly, conservatives and liberals misread one another due to conflicting moral systems, and that, secondly, these are expressed in what he calls ‘lexical metaphors’ which he claims are connected to the ‘strict father mentality’ and the ‘nurturant parent’ one. The thesis struck us as a dichotomy which, both epistemologically and linguistically, was just a bit too neat. In the first place, it is an oversimplified partition of the possibilities for political positioning typically taken up by socio-semiotically constructed ‘meaners’ (Halliday and Matthiessen 1999:610-11), and then, a too-circumscribed classification of the potential linguistic resources systemically available to construe it. In short, lexical metaphor is hardly the whole story, or even the most relevant part of it. The focal point must be widened, as it is grammar (in the sense of lexicogrammar) that creates the potential within which we act and enact our cultural being. This potential is at once enabling and constraining: that is, grammar makes meaning possible and also sets limits on what can be meant.
Probing Ways of Meaning in "Tecnocratic" Discourse
Recontextualizing ‘equality’ in the Constitution of the USA, or, a tale of the inadequacy of the grammar of equality: one Constitutional instance
This paper would address, in a socio-semiotic, intertextual perspective, certain linguistic modif... more This paper would address, in a socio-semiotic, intertextual perspective, certain linguistic modifications that can be seen to have been made in the construal of �equality� � moving from the semantic indeterminacy of the Declaration of Independence of the USA, 1776, to the need for greater definition and classification in its Constitution of 1778. This requires an investigation into: a) the socio-cultural paradigm, or world view, of the times; b) the specific registers, or functional varieties of text involved; and thus, c) the distinct rhetorical purpose(s) these serve. It also means an attempt to overcome temporal, and so also cultural, distance and so to scrutinize the endophoric and exophoric reference of select terms of those times, in use, such as the Classifier, �self-evident�. Analytical focus is on the legislation of equality in the V and XIV amendments� due process clauses, as well as on one Supreme Court decision�s interpretation of the latter. That �equality� and �inequal...
Insegnare le lingue/culture oggi: il contributo dell'interdisciplinarietà
Systemic Socio-Semantic Stylistics (SSS) as Appliable Linguistics : The Cases of Literary Criticism and Language Teaching/Learning
This second edition of Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Text, first published in 2... more This second edition of Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Text, first published in 2004, is an across-the-board revision of that first edition – one that was motivated by our teaching and research experience over the years, but also by explicit student observations. The volume now offers an even more comprehensive introduction ‘about and around’ register theory and analysis. The theoretical input has been substantially fleshed out, as well as thoroughly reworked, as have the practical samples of register analysis. Further changes are detailed in the Preface to the new edition. But some things remain the same. Our approach to functional varieties of text is still, as it has always been, unapologetically Hallidayan. Indeed, today we are more than ever convinced that the ideal model for educating our NNS of English to language awareness is his functional grammar (FG, Halliday 1985/1994/2004/2014). The reasons for this are, of course, many. To begin with, with what better t...
USA. Propagandizing the US myth of unity: ‘We’ in Obama’s Inaugural address, 2009
Este articulo adopta un punto de vista “objetivizado” de la nocion de propaganda politica, que ev... more Este articulo adopta un punto de vista “objetivizado” de la nocion de propaganda politica, que evita asunciones sobre la ‘manipulacion’ intencional de sus discursos y plantea una perspectiva de contexto que acepta el rol decisivo que las creencias dominantes y el sistema de valores del discurso de una comunidad juegan en el proceso propagandistico. El trabajo se concentra sobre el pronombre personal ‘we’ (nosotros) en el Discurso Inaugural de Barack Obama de 2009. Las funciones de este deictico se consideran a la luz de las teorias seminales de Benveniste (1971 [1966]), para ser analizadas despues en relacion con lo que se ha llamado el ‘mito’ estadounidense de la unidad, mito que examinamos aqui brevemente en un enfoque diacronico. Asi, este estudio pone de relieve como ‘we’ tiende a construir vinculos afectivos, yendo del texto al contexto y viceversa.
Visioni polifoniche: la (ri)costruzione linguistica del paradigma consensuale nella propaganda elettorale statunitense
I flussi migratori che stanno scuotendo e trasformando le nostre societa incidono profondamente a... more I flussi migratori che stanno scuotendo e trasformando le nostre societa incidono profondamente anche e soprattutto sul ruolo e sul concetto stesso di lingua. La lingua intesa come mezzo di comunicazione intra- e interculturale diventa sempre piu e con maggior evidenza uno strumento di mediazione tra realta spesso lontanissime –sia in senso geografico sia in senso culturale– dal quale dipende in larga misura l’esito di questo incontro/scontro di civilta e culture. Il volume raccoglie una selezione degli interventi al convegno sulla Geografia della mediazione linguistico-culturale che il CeSLiC ha organizzato nel dicembre 2008. Mette in risalto tre assi principali attorno ai quali e possibile parlare di mediazione. Il primo verte sugli apporti anzitutto teorici allo stesso concetto di mediazione. Il secondo si concentra sulle applicazioni delle tesi sulla mediazione all’analisi linguistica e discorsiva, comprendendo anche la traduzione e la multimodalita. Questa sezione include anche...
to meet our common challenge". "Engaement" Strategies of Alignment and Alienation in Current US International Discourse
Guiding towards register awareness in an undergraduate EFL curriculum in Italy
Register Studies, 2020
This contribution adds to ever-growing research on ‘pedagogical stylistics’, (e.g., Burke et al. ... more This contribution adds to ever-growing research on ‘pedagogical stylistics’, (e.g., Burke et al. 2012). We present a case study describing a register approach to teaching literature, or verbal art (Hasan 1985/1989), to undergraduate EFL students in a Systemic Functional Grammar (FG)-based perspective (Halliday & Matthiessen 2004). Our research is guided by two main goals: enhancing the students’ sensitivity to the peculiar functions of language in literature, as part of wider curriculum on teaching register awareness, and setting up good practices to monitor and assess the effectiveness of our approach. Thus, we present a set of activities based on Hasan’s (1985/1989, 2007) framework for the analysis of verbal art as a ‘special’ register, which is rooted in FG. We then discuss quantitative and qualitative data related to student perceptions of our pedagogical approach, gathered through specifically designed questionnaires, which were followed by semi-structured interviews when possi...
Jakobson’s Place in Hasan’s Social Semiotic Stylistics: ‘Pervasive Parallelism as Symbolic Articulation of Theme
Society in Language, Language in Society, 2016
The foremost aim of this chapter is to provide further evidence for my proposal concerning the ri... more The foremost aim of this chapter is to provide further evidence for my proposal concerning the rightful place of Jakobson’s theory of ‘pervasive parallelism’ (1966, p. 423) within Hasan’s social semiotic stylistics (henceforth SSS) framework. Further substantiation is required to make the case more convincing, if Hasan’s (privately communicated) reservations are to be successfully countered.1
Recontextualizing "equality" in the Constitution of the USA, or, a tale of the inadequacy of the grammar of equality: one Constitutional instance
Revista General De Derecho Publico Comparado, 2008
This paper would address, in a socio-semiotic, intertextual perspective, certain linguistic modif... more This paper would address, in a socio-semiotic, intertextual perspective, certain linguistic modifications that can be seen to have been made in the construal of �equality� � moving from the semantic indeterminacy of the Declaration of Independence of the USA, 1776, to the need for greater definition and classification in its Constitution of 1778. This requires an investigation into: a) the socio-cultural paradigm, or world view, of the times; b) the specific registers, or functional varieties of text involved; and thus, c) the distinct rhetorical purpose(s) these serve. It also means an attempt to overcome temporal, and so also cultural, distance and so to scrutinize the endophoric and exophoric reference of select terms of those times, in use, such as the Classifier, �self-evident�. Analytical focus is on the legislation of equality in the V and XIV amendments� due process clauses, as well as on one Supreme Court decision�s interpretation of the latter. That �equality� and �inequality� are essentially a question of language is one conclusion to this brief study; that, on the other hand, they are a question of much else besides, is another.
Towards a Typology of Evaluation on Parliamentary Debate : From Theory to the Practice - and Back Again
Textus Online Only 20 N 1 2007, 2007
From concordance to text: appraising ‘giving’ in Alma Mater donation requests
Equinox Publishing, Jan 3, 2006
This paper aims to explore the issues involved in the discourse analyst’s search for correlations... more This paper aims to explore the issues involved in the discourse analyst’s search for correlations between meaning and expression across a corpus of texts and in the contemporaneous, not uncommon, finding that there is just so much, with reference to such questions, that the concordance line can tell us.1 More specifically, it will investigate the value of the multidirectional descriptive method of ‘shunting’ (Halliday 1961, in 2002: 45), in this case from a lowerlevel corpus analysis to a complementary higher-level, ‘text-collection’ analysis, illustrating the method by examining a small corpus of donation requests from one’s Alma Mater
Construing the ‘primitive’ primitively: grammatical parallelism as patterning and positioning strategy in D. H. Lawrence
Equinox Publishing, Jan 4, 2007
Donna R. Miller’s research focuses, in a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective, on te... more Donna R. Miller’s research focuses, in a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective, on text and discourse analysis (often corpus-assisted) and ESP: political, deliberative, juridical and literary varieties principally. In this paper, she investigates the hypnotic rhythmic quality of the style of D. H. Lawrence, beginning with the description/explanation which Lawrence himself had offered.
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Books by Donna Rose Miller
But some things remain the same. Our approach to functional varieties of text is still, as it has always been, unapologetically Hallidayan. Indeed, today we are more than ever convinced that the ideal model for educating our NNS of English to language awareness is his functional grammar (FG, Halliday 1985/1994/2004/2014). The reasons for this are, of course, many. To begin with, with what better tool could we carry on our relentless efforts to explode those die-hard myths that would see the study of grammar as a boring and/or elitist enterprise, even one that is basically meaningless? Indeed, FG sets its sights high: to “observe the humanity of our communication processes, not just their form” (Martin 2010: 1-2, our emphasis), or as Christie puts it, to explore “some of the most important and pervasive of the processes by which human beings build their world” (1985/1989: v).
We ultimately aim to guide our students to observing/exploring these processes. And one crucial way to do this is by furnishing them with the tools that FG provides for understanding how language use is not a minor or ‘neutral’ player in the social fields of everyday life (Williams 2016: 339), as well as – why not? – encouraging them to investigate how such awareness can best be put to worthwhile social use. After all, FG is an exceptionally ‘appliable linguistics’ (e.g., Halliday 2002 [2009]: 3), one that successfully challenges the boundaries between theory and practice. And of course, as Halliday insists, “the value of a theory lies in the use that can be made of it” (1985b: 7).
Tradurre Figure / Translating Figurative Language offers 30 original contributions on the interlingual translation of figurative language. The chapters were first presented at an international conference held at the University of Bologna in December 2012 and have been selected through a double peer-reviewed process. Why figurative language in translation? Essentially because figurative language – and the contributions in this book can be seen to prove it – may often foreground the complexities of the translation process, as well as the strong link between language and culture that this process has to renegotiate. Written in either English or Italian, the different contributions of this volume investigate the topic from a wide range of approaches and through several possible language pairs. We are confident that these stimulating and wide-ranging chapters will contribute to casting new light on the practice of translators around the world when dealing with the manifold implications and challenges that figurative language cannot help but pose.
Editors: Donna R. Miller & Enrico Monti
Papers by Donna Rose Miller
Chapters by: Umberto Eco, Gerard Steen, Zoltan Kovecses, Christina Schaffner, Patricia Godbout, Stefano Arduini, Franco Nasi and several others.
Book editors: Donna R. Miller & Enrico Monti"