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In the previous section, I set out a framework for exploring evaluative language which identified two primary modes of evaluative positioning - the attitudinal and the dialogistic. In this section will look in more detail at attitudinal positioning. The discussion will proceed under the following headings.
In considering Attitude, we are concerned with those utterances which can be interpreted as indicating that some person, thing, situation, action, event or state of affairs is to be viewed either positively or negatively. That is to say, we classify as attitudinal any utterance which either conveys a negative or positive assessment or which can be interpreted as inviting the reader to supply their own negative or positive assessments.
There are various ways in which attitude can be conveyed or invoked, some of which make for easier analysis and others for less easy analysis. The most straightforward cases involve the use of individual words or phrases which overtly indicate the attitudinal position being taken by the writer or speaker. In the following, for example, it is a relatively straightforward matter to identify the individual words which convey the writer's positive attitude towards the newly elected US President Bush and his just delivered inaugural speech. (See underlining)
The new president's speech was elegant and well-woven, sounding a panoply of themes without seeming scattered. A man not known for his silver tongue, he delivered it with an uncharacteristic grace. (New York Post, Jan 21 2001 - Comment)
The situation, however, if often rather more complex. For a start, the indication of attitudinal position is often conveyed not by single words but by phrases or by the interaction of multiple elements of the utterance. Consider, for example, the following.
George W. Bush delivered his inaugural speech as the United States President who collected 537,000 fewer votes than his opponent. Without the intervention of a partisan, right-wing Supreme Court to ensure the election of a Republican, Mr Bush would now be a forgotten loser. The Observer considers his election an affront to the democratic principle with incalculable consequences for America and the world. Mr Bush's inaugural attempt to assert his brand of one-nation, compassionate conservatism is bluster and hogwash. He has acted from the moment Al Gore conceded as if he had won a wholehearted mandate. But the Bush cabinet is neither centrist nor compassionate. In home affairs, it is brutalist and reactionary - for tax cuts overtly biased towards the rich, against the protection of consumers, workers and the environment. In overseas affairs, Mr Bush has appointed Cold War warriors from his father's era who do not appreciate the nuances of a transformed international environment. (The Observer, Jan 21, 2001 - leader page)
Certainly there are intances of individual words conveying a clear attitudinal meaning - for example, `partisan', `compassionate', `hogwash', `brutalist' and `reactionary'. But at numerous points it is not individual words but word combinations with convey Attitude - for example, `his election [is] an affront to the democratic principle' and `Cold War warriors who do not appreciate the nuances of a transformed international environment.' As a consequence, it is better to see Attitude as a feature or property, not of individual words (though individual words may be `attitudinal), but of complete utterances, of stretches of language which present a complete proposition or proposal.
The extract above points us to an additional, related complication - the fact that Attitude can be implicit or invoked, rather than explicitly indicated. Consider for example,
George W. Bush delivered his inaugural speech as the United States President who collected 537,000 fewer votes than his opponent.
On the face of it, this may present itself as a simple statement of fact. Certainly the utterance contains no explicit indication of attitude, no individual word of phrase which can be said to indicate a positive or negative assessment. Yet, at least in this context, the proposition presented certainly can be interpreted as indicating something negative about the new President, as indicating that there is something wrong, illegitimate, dishonest or perverse about his election victory. This potential depends, of course, on what is often termed `reading position'- it depends on the reader's views of the democratic process generally, of the US electoral system specifically, and probably on the reader's party-political leanings and views of the personal qualities of the US Presidential candidates. Nevertheless, at least for some readers (presumably not George Bush supporters) the utterance does convey, or at least trigger, a negative attitudinal response and this is a response which it is reasonable to assume was intended and expected by the Observer leader writer. (The evidence for this lies, of course, in what follows after in the article.)
This, then, is an example of what can be termed `implicit' or `evoked' Attitude, which stands in contrast to `explicit' or `inscribed' Attitude. Here the `evocation' of a negative assessment rests on the apparent contradiction or incongruity of someone being elected for high office in a democratic system when they received some half a million fewer votes than their defeated opponent. Such `implicit' Attitude must be seen as only potentially a feature of such an utterance since, as we have seen, it depends on the reader bringing particular sets of beliefs and expectations to the process of interpretation. Thus a Bush supporter or an expert in the complexities of democratic electoral systems may resist seeing anything negative in this depiction of events.
Such evocations of Attitude don't, of course, occur in textual isolation. The reader is typically guided to some attitudinal interpretation by other parts of the text, most typically by instances of explicit Attitude. Consider, for example, the following proposition.
[The Australian Aborigines] were nomads who in 40,000 years left no permanent settlements.
Out of any textual context, such an utterance is, perhaps, neutral attitudinally, or at least it is open-ended as far as its attitudinal significance. Ecologically minded readers might see the proposition as conveying a positive assessment since it shows the Aborigines minimising their impact on the natural world. Alternatively, those readers possessed of a pro-development ideology might read it as conveying a negative assessment. Of course, in context, there is no ambiguity about the type of attitudinal response it is intended to trigger.
The Aussies are being asked to tear out their hearts over the plight of the poor old Abos. They are asked to believe that, before the white man stole their land, Australia was a paradise inhabited by gentle, trusting, children of nature living on the fat of the land. In fact, the Aboriginals were treacherous and brutal. They had acquired none of the skills or the arts of civilisation. They were nomads who in 40,000 years left no permanent settlements. (The Sun [UK], January 1988)
To summarise, then, in analysing Attitude, we conclude that attitudinal meanings are better seen as carried by utterances, by complete propositions than by individual words, although in some instances it IS possible to point to individual lexical items as carrying attitudinal assessment. The unit of analysis, then, is the proposition or proposal, or a sequence of interconnected propositions or proposals, analysed in the context of the larger text in which they operate. We also distinguish between explicit and implicit Attitude. Under explicit Attitude we can point to overtly evaluative/attitudinal words or combinations of words, that is to say words and phrases which unproblematically carry a positive or negative sense. In contrast, under implicit Attitude, it is not easy to identify instances of evaluative/attitudinal wordings in the utterance under consideration. Rather, the writer/speaker relies on the audience/respondent interpreting the happening or state of affairs therein presented in evaluative terms. The writer/speaker relies on the reader/listener seeing the state of events described as right or wrong, strange or normal, attractive or distasteful, heart-warming or upsetting, and so on.
As indicated briefly before, it is useful to sub-divide attitudinal meanings into three sub categories. (The reasons for the sub-division will emerge as we proceed through the following sections.) These sub-types are:
Affect (emotion): evaluation by means of the writer/speaker indicating how they are emotionally disposed to the person, thing, happening or state of affairs. For example, `I love jazz'; `This new proposal by the government terrifies me'.
Judgement (ethics): normative assessments of human behaviour typically making reference to rules or conventions of behaviour . For example, `He corruptly agreed to accept money from those bidding for the contract'; `Our new classmate seems rather eccentric'.
Appreciation (aesthetics): assessments of the form, appearance, composition, impact, significance etc of human artefacts, natural objects as well as human individuals (but not of human behaviour) by reference to aesthetics and other systems of social value.
Under Affect, we are concerned with emotions, with positive and negative emotional responses and dispositions. Affectual positioning may be indicated,
We see Affect at work in the following extracts. (See underlining)
1. COULD you please tell me why Virginia Wade has been chosen once again to be a commentator at Wimbledon. As a keen viewer of this marvellous tournament I find that she spoils my day with her constant waffling, unlike Anne Jones whom I do enjoy. Even though Virginia was once a top player, she will never achieve the distinction of being a top commentator.
2. I HAVE been to Norway and found its people charming. That's why their unbelievably selfish, almost ghoulish declaration to hunt the minke whale from 1993 left me so astounded.
3. No doubt the men want to sleep with her but they also respect, like and trust her. She is upfront and gutsy. If Mel were a man, I'd have a crush on her... I would adore her as a friend.
Such instances involve the writer/speaker indicating how they have responded emotionally to the person, thing, happening or situation being evaluated. Obviously they thereby take responsibility for that attitudinal value assessment.
The most obvious rhetorical function of such a use of Affect is to indicate an attitudinal position towards person or thing or situation which triggers the emotion. Phenomena which trigger positive emotions are, presumably, to be viewed positively and phenomena which trigger negative emotions are, equally presumably, to be viewed negatively. We are, thus, presumably intended to take a positive view or Anne Jones' commentatorial style by dint of the letter writer of extract 1 having `enjoyed' it, a negative view of the Norwegians by dint of the writer of extract 2 being astounded by their plans to hunt whales and a positive view of `Mel' by dint of the writer of extract 3 wanting to `adore' her as a friend.
But the rhetorical functionality of such meanings is rather more complicated than this. Such emotional assessments reside, of course, entirely in the individual subjectivity of the speaker/writer. It is an entirely personalised and individualised mode of evaluation and various rhetorical consequences follow from this. Through such `authorial Affect', the speaker/writer strongly foregrounds his/her subjective presence in the communicative process. Through this revelation of emotional response he/she seeks to establish an interpersonal rapport with the reader in the sense that, for the evaluation to carry any rhetorical weight, the reader must see this personalised response as in some way relevant, significant, valid, justified or at least understandable. Thus by the use of such Affect, the writer bids to establish an interpersonal bond with the reader to the extent that the reader agrees with, understands or at least sympathises with that emotional reaction.
This functionality can be illustrated by the following extract from a newspaper feature article in which the author describes her own experiences as the adoptive mother of an Australian Aboriginal baby. (affect values are in underlined).
As an adoptive family we have had pain and trauma, tears and anger, and sometimes despair. There has also been love and laughter and support from friends and extended family. My children have added richness to my life and taught me much about myself. (Sydney Morning Herald 4/6/97.)
By appraising events in such emotional/affectual terms, the speaker/writer invites her audience to share that emotional response, or at least to see that response as appropriate and well motivated, or at least as understandable. When that invitation is accepted, then, solidarity or sympathy between speaker and listener will be enhanced. Once such an empathetic connection has been established, then there is the possibility that the listener will be more open to the broader ideological aspects of the speaker's position. When the invitation to share the emotional response is not taken up - when the affectual value is seen as inappropriate, or bizarre or dysfunctional etc - then solidarity or sympathy will most probably be diminished and the chance of axiological concord diminished.
We can see this strategy at work in the extract above. The article appeared at a time when Australian Aborigines were calling for a public apology and financial compensation for the Australian government's previous policy of forcibly removing aboriginal children from their families and placing them with adoptive white parents. The policy had been described as a form of cultural genocide. A position generally supportive of the Aboriginal perspective had been widely adopted by the media and the political left and centre. The world view of the author of the extract was obviously at odds with this position, at least to the extent that for her the experience of raising two Aboriginal children had nothing to do with genocide and had not been grounds for shame and guilt. Her inclusion of Affect values of the type cited above can be seen as part of a strategy by which she was at least able to negotiate some space for her alternative, divergent social perspective. Her construing the issue in terms of basic human emotional responses could be expected to establish, at least in some readers, a sense of sympathy, a sense of common experiences and hence to enhance the possibility that her overall position in the article might be seen by readers as legitimate and well motivated.
What this means, then, is that values of Affect may operate with multiple evaluative targets. The speaker/writer may direct their evaluation, in the form of an emotional response, at some external entity or situation or they may, in a sense, direct the evaluation at themselves through demonstrating emotions which are likely to be seen as appropriate, or just, or at least sympathy-evoking. The two processes, of course, are interconnected - the writer/speaker can emotionally evaluate some third party while simultaneously presenting themselves for evaluation via that emotion.
In such instances, then, the writer is the source of the emotion by which the evaluation is conveyed and hence takes some responsibility for that evaluation. But we also need to consider instances where it is not the author's emotions which are described but those of other human individuals or groups. We saw such an instance in a previous extract.
No doubt the men want to sleep with her but they also respect, like and trust her.
Here we have an instance where, on the face of it, the writer is not evaluating at all, at least not with respect to the contestant Mel. The writer presents herself as merely reporting on the emotional reactions of `the men' - she is not taking responsibility (at least not directly) for any positive (or negative) assessment which might be suggested or invoked by such a reporting of emotions. The positive evaluation of `Mel' is thus presented here as being external, or non-authorial. It is, in a sense, an attributed evaluation, responsibility of which has been transferred to an external source, in this case `the men'. Tellingly, however, the fact that these men are said to view the young woman, Mel, favourably (they are said to respect, like and trust her) contributes to the writer's general purpose of presenting her to the reader in a positive light.
How does this type of non-authorial affectual Attitude operate rhetorically? Is it simply the case that the attributed evaluator acts as a surrogate, so to speak, for the author. That is to say, the author indicates a positive assessment by having some reported source respond with positive emotions to the phenomenon under consideration (for example, the men trusting Mel in the above example), or, alternatively, the author indicates a negative assessment by having some reported source respond with a negative emotion. Obviously, things are rather more complicated than this. It depends, of course, on the degree to which the source of the reported Affectual value is presented as reliable or reasonable in his/her emotional responses, and upon the degree to which the attributed emotional reaction can be interpreted as endorsed by, or in keeping with, the text's overall evaluative position. In the above instance the emotional positiveness of the men is consistent with the positiveness of the article as a whole. And there is nothing in the article to suggest that the men are untoward, perverse, unwarranted or unrepresentative in their positive regard for the young woman. They are then, at least in the article's own terms, reliable witnesses as to Mel's emotive qualities. But of course, we can well imagine (and will encounter in later text analyses) instances where some emotional response (either positive or negative) is not endorsed by the text or is likely to be viewed as in some way unwarranted, excessive, inappropriate or perverse. In such instances it cannot be that the reported sources of emotion act simply as evaluative `surrogates' for the author, as indirect means for the writer to advance his or her own attitudinal position
There is, as indicated above, an additional level of evaluation going on in such evaluative formulations. In the above extract, the reporting of the men's positive emotions towards Mel served to evaluate Mel, the target of this emotional reaction. But equally, this reporting of emotion can act to evaluate the men themselves. As individuals who `like', `trust' and `respect' Mel, the men themselves are positively evaluated. This functionality follows from the special social value which associates with emotion. As already indicated previously, as a society, we are quick to judge emotions, to see certain emotional responses as praiseworthy and others as blameworthy. Thus to hate is typically `bad' while `loving' is typically (though not always) `good'. Thus anger is `bad', unless it is of the righteous type (against some perceived injustice, for example), in which case it is `good'.
Once again, the inclusion of Affect in a text has the potential to position the reader attitudinally. When the writer attributes some emotion to a social actor (the `men' in the text extract above, for example), we can expect this to provoke either a sympathetic or unsympathetic response in the reader/listener towards this social actor. If the reader endorses the emotional response, sees it as praiseworthy, justified or at least understandable, then they are more likely to be positively disposed to that social actor generally. And of course the obverse applies equally well. If the reader sees the reported emotions of the social actor as destructive, perverse, unwarranted or incomprehensible, then they are more likely to be negatively disposed to that actor generally.
In this context, I mention in passing the well established fact that social actors in many types of discourse (especially Public discourses such as those media) don't function simply as isolated individuals. As has been widely discussed in, for example, the Critical Discourse Analysis literature, they often stand in for, or represent, generalised social types or groupings - for example, embattled teachers, the homeless, asylum seekers, victims of crime, drug addicts, business leaders, scientists, and so on. A reader who sympathises with the emotional response attributed to a given social type is thus predisposed to legitimate the social position that social type represents. We can see this dynamic at work in the following extract, taken from a letter to the editor of the Australian newspaper by an Australian of Vietnamese background. She was writing at a time when racism had become a hot media topic following the recent rise of an anti-Asian, anti-immigration and covertly racist political movement under the leadership of the independent parliamentarian, Pauline Hanson.
LAST week, Pauline Hanson attacked Footscray, labelling it an ethnic enclave that makes her feel like a foreigner in her own country. Has Pauline Hanson been to Footscray? Is she aware of its proud tradition of struggle and hard work? Does she know about the waves of immigrants who have worked in its quarries, factories, workshops and businesses? Immigrants who have been part of the backbone of Australia's labour force and thankful for the opportunity to work and start a new life in this country. (The Australian, 4/6/97)
Here the writer is obviously concerned to negotiate intersubjective space for a social position sympathetic to the interests of immigrant Australians, in opposition to that advanced by Pauline Hanson and her followers. Accordingly the immigrants of one of Australia's most multicultural areas, the Melbourne municipality of Footscray, are evaluated positively through emotional responses attributed to them. Thus, they are declared to be `proud' of their hard work and struggle and to be ` thankful' for their opportunities in their new home. The writer establishes a stance towards a particular social grouping via the affectual values she attributes to representatives of that grouping, affectual values which she anticipates will be endorsed and approved of by at least some of her intended readers.
I've provided a text below and invite you to identify instances of authorial Affect and non-authorial Affect . I've firstly set out the text in its entirety for a quick read through and then broken it down into manageable chunks for the purposes of analysis. After each chunk, I've provided my analysis of Affect values. I invite you to have a go at analysing each chunk then comparing your analysis with what I came up with. Once you've completed the analysis, you might consider how this could assist you in exploring the following types of question.
[The Mail on Sunday - Feb 4, 2001]
[Small headline] [picture caption] [Large head] [kicker] WHEN my son Marshall - that's his name, not Eminem - first got into rap as a teenager he would wake me at Sam to ask me what words rhymed with what. I bought him a dictionary and it all went downhill from there. Because of what Marshall has written, to his fans I am the most hated person on this planet. I've been spat on by kids in the supermarket. Yet I do know him, probably better than anyone, and I want to try and explain to his British fans - and all the parents who I know are horrified by the lyrics to his songs - what makes my son tick. As he starts his concert tour of Britain on Thursday I want people to understand that the hate-filled rapper on stage is Eminem and not my boy Marshall. Basically, no one should take anything he says seriously - he doesn't mean it. He doesn't hate women or homosexuals and he's not violent. He is making money out of negative issues because he could not make it as a rap star any other way. When he first started to write filthy lyrics I asked him why. His answer was the more foul he was the more people loved him. He didn't make money out of nice things. If he wrote a song about how much he loved his mother and little brother, he'd be laughed at. THE Marshall I know rarely curses - he's a little itty-bitty thing who wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. That's not to say I am condoning his behaviour - if I had my way I would have his albums censored. Children under a certain age should not listen to such filthy lyrics. But despite what he has done, he is still my son. Marshall remains very angry with me and I still don't know why. I love him so much that if he asked me to jump in front of a train for him, I would. He has hurt me terribly and, in a way, I blame myself: I was an over-protective mother who gave him everything he wanted and more. I once asked him why he was so angry with me. He said it was because he didn't have a dad. I tried to explain to him that I left his father because he was abusive and if we hadn't gone, he would have hated me even more. I asked him why he blamed me and he just stormed out. As usual, he would not give me a straight answer. Until just two years ago, when he became famous, he lived with me. I always say that if he hated me so much why did he live with me until two months short of his 26th birthday? And that's another thing - he even lies about his age. He's actually 28 but he keeps knocking years off. We fell out initially because I wanted to leave Detroit and go back to Missouri. He didn't want me to go and turned all his anger on me. It was the beginning of the end and I blame his wife Kim. She bullies Marshall yet he has gone back to her time and again because of their daughter Hailie. He loves Hailie so much and wants to be a proper father to her unlike his own dad. Despite what Marshall says, we lived in nice neighbourhoods not slums. But he was picked on because he was always a tiny thing. When he was eight, after a series of beatings, he fell into a coma. The doctors did not think he would live but I prayed and prayed until he pulled through. He had to re-learn how to do simple things like speak and eat and one of the side effects from the head injury, I believe, were his behavioural problems. Obviously I became over protective. I was single, he was my only son. Years later, he abused me because he changed schools so many times, blaming me. Yet the truth is whenever he had a problem at school, he came home and demanded to move. And I gave in to him. Marshall was 13 when I became pregnant with his half brother Nathan. He was delighted. I have always loved kids and fostered four; the house was always full of waifs and strays. One of those troubled souls was Kim Scott, who moved in with us when she was 12. Marshall was about 15 and she lied about her age saying she was the same. They got together and that was it. Chaos reigned. Until then Marshall was a normal, happy boy. She changed him, she wound him up, and they had the most terrible rows. I had to break up the cursing between them. The girl thrives on confrontation. But Marshall was never violent towards her. He may rap about raping and murdering her but he has never laid a finger on her. When they had a row he took it out on his car, he would come screaming home and punch the car. I've never seen a vehicle with so many dents in it. Another thing that deeply traumatised him as a youth was the death of his uncle Ronnie, my brother. The two were just six weeks apart and were more like brothers, they did everything together. But when they were about 16, Marshall got into rap and Ronnie liked Bon Jovi. They fell out and didn't speak for two years. When Ronnie killed himself, Marshall was devastated. MARSHALL has accused me of being addicted to prescription pills. Well, back in 1990 I was run over by a drunk driver. I had to eat baby food as I couldn't swallow and during that time I was on medication. It wasn't pill popping and, whatever he says, I brought Marshall up in an alcohol, drug and smoke-free home. He sings about smoking crack and heroin. I honestly don't know what he does now, but he certainly drinks and he has introduced Nathan, who is just 15, to Bacardi. Nathan told me and I am very angry with Marshall for doing that. Nathan looks up to Marshall. It's hard now he is known as Eminem's brother. At one point Nathan wanted to live full-time with Marshall, who threatened to apply for custody. Now the only time Marshall phones it is to speak to Nathan; he doesn't have time for me. Right up until he was 26 I took care of his finances - he didn't have a bank account - and his car insurance. There was a mess up over a car repayment and he went berserk and blamed me. We had a terse conversation recently when he said he'd have me put in jail for fraud. But one day he has got to wake up and smell the coffee. I am gullible and loving. As a child Marshall was never spanked and I never raised my voice to him. The real problem is not that he had a hard time but that he resents I sheltered him so much from the real world. When he got a job as a chef, who taught him to cook? Me. When he fell out with his friends, who resolved it? Me. I am guilty of loving my son too much. There is nothing I can do now to stop him belittling me. But one day he will be my Marshall again. When he grows up.
As the white rapper bring his shocking show to Britain, the surprising truth from the woman who knows him best - his "badass mom".
A troubled man: Debbie says her son's vitriol is an act.
I think Eminem is filthy - and I'm his mum
FOUL-mouthed rap sensation Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - has horrified parents with his graphic lyrics, many aimed at his own mother Debbie MathersBriggs. But this is what she thinks of him...
[Small headline] [picture caption] [Large head] [kicker]
As the white rapper brings his shocking show to Britain, the surprising truth from the woman who knows him best - his ' badass mom'.
A troubled man: Debbie says her son's vitriol is an act
I think Eminem is filthy - and I'm his mum
FOUL-mouthed rap sensation Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - has horrified parents with his graphic lyrics, many aimed at his own mother Debbie MathersBriggs. But this is what she thinks of him...
[Analysis follows over page]
As the white rapper brings his shocking1A show to Britain, |
1A.. `Shocking' can certainly be seen as referencing an emotional reaction. But we notice interestingly that the emotion has been disconnected from any specific `emoter' - there is no-one who is actually presented as being `shocked'. Rather, the quality of being `shocking' is represented as being an intrinsic quality of `the show'. Accordingly, for reasons which will be explored at greater length subsequently, we do not classify such formulations as examples of Affect (though they are closely related). They are actually classed as examples of Appreciation, the mode of evaluation by which we assess the aesthetic properties of things, states of affairs, texts, performances etc. Here, as indicated above, the aesthetic qualities of Eminem's `show' is being evaluated. |
the surprising1B truth from the woman who knows him best - his ' badass mom'. |
1B. This is similar to the previous instance. Although there is a reference to an emotional reaction, the emotion has been disconnected from any human emoter and is represented as an intrinsic quality of the abstract noun `truth'. This accordingly would not be analysed as an example of Affect (but of Appreciation) |
A troubled2A man: |
2A. negative Affect (non-authorial: as Epithet) Here we do have an emoter - the `man', Eminem, who is said to be generally in the emotional state of being troubled. |
Debbie says her son's vitriol2B is an act |
2B negative Affect (non-authorial: as Noun). The emoter is `her son' (Eminem) |
I think Eminem is filthy3A - and I'm his mum |
3A Although we might feel that a strong emotional feeling underlies such a term, this is NOT Affect, since it's not actually referring to a particular response by some human emoter. This, as we will see, is actually and example of a Judgement value - it indicates an ethical or normative assessment of Eminem (by his mother) |
FOUL-mouthed rap sensation Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - has horrified4A parents with his graphic lyrics, many aimed at his own mother Debbie MathersBriggs. But this is what she thinks of him... |
4A non-authorial negative Affect |
WHEN my son Marshall - that's his name, not Eminem - first got into rap as a teenager he would wake me at 5am to ask me what words rhymed with what. I bought him a dictionary and it all went downhill from there. Because of what Marshall has written, to his fans I am the most hated person on this planet. I've been spat on by kids in the supermarket. Yet I do know him, probably better than anyone, and I want to try and explain to his British fans - and all the parents who I know are horrified by the lyrics to his songs - what makes my son tick.
WHEN my son Marshall - that's his name, not Eminem - first got into rap as a teenager he would wake me at 5am to ask me what words rhymed with what. I bought him a dictionary and it all went downhill from there. |
[No Affect] |
Because of what Marshall has written, to his fans I am the most hated5A person on this planet. |
|
I've been spat on5B by kids in the supermarket. |
5B. Could be taken as a behavioural indicator or sign of (non-authorial) negative Affect , similar to the famous biblical phrase, `Jesus wept'. |
Yet I do know him, probably better than anyone, and I want to try and explain to his British fans - and all the parents who I know are horrified6A by the lyrics to his songs - what makes my son tick. |
|
As he starts his concert tour of Britain on Thursday I want people to understand that the hate-filled rapper on stage is Eminem and not my boy Marshall. Basically, no one should take anything he says seriously - he doesn't mean it. He doesn't hate women or homosexuals and he's not violent. He is making money out of negative issues because he could not make it as a rap star any other way. When he first started to write filthy lyrics I asked him why. His answer was the more foul he was the more people loved him. He didn't make money out of nice things. If he wrote a song about how much he loved his mother and little brother, he'd be laughed at.
As he starts his concert tour of Britain on Thursday I want people to understand that the hate-filled7A rapper on stage is Eminem and not my boy Marshall. |
|
Basically, no one should take anything he says seriously - he doesn't mean it. He doesn't hate8A women or homosexuals and he's not violent. |
|
He is making money out of negative issues because he could not make it as a rap star any other way. When he first started to write filthy lyrics I asked him why. |
[No Affect] |
His answer was the more foul he was the more people loved9A him. He didn't make money out of nice things. |
|
If he wrote a song about how much he loved10A his mother and little brother, |
|
he'd be laughed at10B. |
10B. Somewhat arguable. Could possibly treated as a behavioural indicator/sign of non-Authorial negative Affect |
THE Marshall I know rarely curses - he's a little itty-bitty thing who wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. That's not to say I am condoning his behaviour - if I had my way I would have his albums censored. Children under a certain age should not listen to such filthy lyrics. But despite what he has done, he is still my son. [No Affect] Marshall remains very angry with me and I still don't know why. I love him so much that if he asked me to jump in front of a train for him, I would. He has hurt me terribly and, in a way, I blame myself: I was an over-protective mother who gave him everything he wanted and more. I once asked him why he was so angry with me. He said it was because he didn't have a dad.
Marshall remains very angry with me and I still don't know why. |
non-authorial neg Affect |
I love him so much that if he asked me to jump in front of a train for him, I would. |
Authorial positive Affect |
He has hurt me terribly and, in a way, |
`Hurt' of course can indicate either physical or emotional pain - here, I think emotional, hence Authorial negative Affect |
I blame myself: |
We might see such a formulation as implying that the writer has negative emotions towards herself. However, `to blame' does not directly reference an emotional disposition/reaction (though it may do this by implication). Rather, by `blaming' speakers/writers indicate they hold someone responsible for some wrong-doing. Thus `to blame' indicates that a Judgement is being made. |
I was an over-protective mother who gave him everything he wanted and more. |
non-authorial Affect |
I once asked him why he was so angry with me. He said it was because he didn't have a dad. |
non-authorial negative Affect |
I tried to explain to him that I left his father because he was abusive and if we hadn't gone, he would have hated me even more. I asked him why he blamed me and he just stormed out. As usual, he would not give me a straight answer. Until just two years ago, when he became famous, he lived with me. I always say that if he hated me so much why did he live with me until two months short of his 26th birthday? And that's another thing - he even lies about his age. He's actually 28 but he keeps knocking years off.
I tried to explain to him that I left his father because he was abusive and if we hadn't gone, he would have hated me even more. |
non-authorial neg Affect |
I asked him why he blamed me and he just stormed out. As usual, he would not give me a straight answer. |
possible sign/indicator of non-authorial neg Affect (anger) |
Until just two years ago, when he became famous, he lived with me. |
|
I always say that if he hated me so much why did he live with me until two months short of his 26th birthday? And that's another thing - he even lies about his age. He's actually 28 but he keeps knocking years off. |
non-authorial neg Affect |
We fell out initially because I wanted to leave Detroit and go back to Missouri. He didn't want me to go and turned all his anger on me. It was the beginning of the end and I blame his wife Kim. She bullies Marshall yet he has gone back to her time and again because of their daughter Hailie. He loves Hailie so much and wants to be a proper father to her unlike his own dad. Despite what Marshall says, we lived in nice neighbourhoods not slums. But he was picked on because he was always a tiny thing. When he was eight, after a series of beatings, he fell into a coma. The doctors did not think he would live but I prayed and prayed until he pulled through.
We fell out initially because I wanted to leave Detroit and go back to Missouri. |
authorial Affect |
He didn't want me to go |
non-authorial Affect |
and turned all his anger on me. |
non-authorial negative Affect |
It was the beginning of the end and I blame his wife Kim. She bullies Marshall yet he has gone back to her time and again because of their daughter Hailie. |
|
He loves Hailie so much |
non-authorial positive Affect |
and wants to be a proper father to her unlike his own dad. |
non-authorial positive Affect |
Despite what Marshall says, we lived in nice neighbourhoods not slums. But he was picked on because he was always a tiny thing. When he was eight, after a series of beatings, he fell into a coma. The doctors did not think he would live but I prayed and prayed until he pulled through. |
[No Affect] |
He had to re-learn how to do simple things like speak and eat and one of the side effects from the head injury, I believe, were his behavioural problems. Obviously I became over protective. I was single, he was my only son. Years later, he abused me because he changed schools so many times, blaming me. Yet the truth is whenever he had a problem at school, he came home and demanded to move. And I gave in to him. [No Affect] Marshall was 13 when I became pregnant with his half brother Nathan. He was delighted. I have always loved kids and fostered four; the house was always full of waifs and strays. One of those troubled souls was Kim Scott, who moved in with us when she was 12. Marshall was about 15 and she lied about her age saying she was the same. They got together and that was it. Chaos reigned. Until then Marshall was a normal, happy boy. She changed him, she wound him up, and they had the most terrible rows.
Marshall was 13 when I became pregnant with his half brother Nathan. |
|
He was delighted. |
non-authorial positive Affect |
I have always loved kids and fostered four;the house was always full of waifs and strays |
authorial positive Affect |
One of those troubled souls was Kim Scott, who moved in with us when she was 12. Marshall was about 15 and she lied about her age saying she was the same. They got together and that was it. Chaos reigned. |
non-authorial negative Affect |
Until then Marshall was a normal, happy boy. |
non-authorial positive Affect |
She changed him, she wound him up, |
Possibly non-authorial Affect if we construe `wound up' as meaning `got him angry'. |
and they had the most terrible rows. |
Possible indicator/sign of non-authorial negative affect (sign of anger) |
I had to break up the cursing between them. The girl thrives on confrontation. But Marshall was never violent towards her. He may rap about raping and murdering her but he has never laid a finger on her. When they had a row he took it out on his car, he would come screaming home and punch the car. I've never seen a vehicle with so many dents in it.
I had to break up the cursing between them. |
possible indicator/sign of anger, hence non-authorial negative affect |
The girl thrives on confrontation. But Marshall was never violent towards her. He may rap about raping and murdering her but he has never laid a finger on her. |
|
When they had a row he took it out on his car, |
as above |
he would come screaming home and punch the car. I've never seen a vehicle with so many dents in it. |
possible sign of anger - hence non-authorial negative Affect |
Another thing that deeply traumatised him as a youth was the death of his uncle Ronnie, my brother. The two were just six weeks apart and were more like brothers, they did everything together. But when they were about 16, Marshall got into rap and Ronnie liked Bon Jovi. They fell out and didn't speak for two years. When Ronnie killed himself, Marshall was devastated.
Another thing that deeply traumatised him as a youth was the death of his uncle Ronnie, my brother. |
non-authorial negative Affect |
The two were just six weeks apart and were more like brothers, they did everything together. But when they were about 16, Marshall got into rap and Ronnie liked Bon Jovi. They fell out and didn't speak for two years. |
|
When Ronnie killed himself, Marshall was devastated. |
|
MARSHALL has accused me of being addicted to prescription pills. Well, back in 1990 I was run over by a drunk driver. I had to eat baby food as I couldn't swallow and during that time I was on medication. It wasn't pill popping and, whatever he says, I brought Marshall up in an alcohol, drug and smoke-free home. [No Affect] He sings about smoking crack and heroin. I honestly don't know what he does now, but he certainly drinks and he has introduced Nathan, who is just 15, to Bacardi. Nathan told me and I am very angry with Marshall for doing that. Nathan looks up to Marshall. It's hard now he is known as Eminem's brother. At one point Nathan wanted to live full-time with Marshall, who threatened to apply for custody. Now the only time Marshall phones it is to speak to Nathan; he doesn't have time for me.
He sings about smoking crack and heroin. I honestly don't know what he does now, but he certainly drinks and he has introduced Nathan, who is just 15, to Bacardi. |
|
Nathan told me and I am very angry with Marshall for doing that. |
authorial negative Affect |
Nathan looks up to Marshall. It's hard now he is known as Eminem's brother. At one point Nathan wanted to live full-time with Marshall, who threatened to apply for custody. Now the only time Marshall phones it is to speak to Nathan; he doesn't have time for me. |
Right up until he was 26 I took care of his finances - he didn't have a bank account - and his car insurance. There was a mess up over a car repayment and he went berserk and blamed me. We had a terse conversation recently when he said he'd have me put in jail for fraud. But one day he has got to wake up and smell the coffee.
Right up until he was 26 I took care of his finances - he didn't have a bank account - and his car insurance. |
|
There was a mess up over a car repayment and he went berserk and blamed me. |
|
We had a terse conversation recently when he said he'd have me put in jail for fraud. But one day he has got to wake up and smell the coffee. |
`terse' is a possible value of Affect, though it is presented as a quality of the `conversation' rather than the emotional state of those involved in the conversation |
I am gullible and loving. As a child Marshall was never spanked and I never raised my voice to him. The real problem is not that he had a hard time but that he resents I sheltered him so much from the real world. When he got a job as a chef, who taught him to cook? Me. When he fell out with his friends, who resolved it? Me. I am guilty of loving my son too much. There is nothing I can do now to stop him belittling me. But one day he will be my Marshall again. When he grows up.
I am gullible and loving. |
`Loving' here is an interesting case. At one level it obviously makes some reference to the writer's emotions. And yet, of course, there is no actual reference to a specific emotional response on her part. Rather she speaks of a general quality she possesses and that quality (of being loving) is one which is typically associated with a positive ethical assessment. Thus to describe someone as `a loving mother' is judge their behaviour in normative terms. I would therefore probably classify `loving' as more a value of Judgement than of Affect (though it is, obviously, one which is based in emotion.) |
As a child Marshall was never spanked and I never raised my voice to him. |
|
The real problem is not that he had a hard time |
|
but that he resents I sheltered him so much from the real world. |
non-authorial negative Affect |
When he got a job as a chef, who taught him to cook? Me. When he fell out with his friends, who resolved it? Me. |
|
I am guilty of loving my son too much. |
authorial Affect (positive emotion, but negative self-evaluation of writer as emoter) |
There is nothing I can do now to stop him belittling me. But one day he will be my Marshall again. When he grows up |
From such an analysis, it quickly becomes apparent that values of Affect play a key role in this writer's evaluative strategy, particularly values to do with anger, hate, and love. In order to more easily see how these values are mobilised in the text, I provide below a further analysis which focuses on the key Affectual values. The analysis,
Emoter |
Target | ||
A troubled2A man: |
Distress |
Eminem |
|
Debbie says her son's vitriol2B is an act |
Anger |
Eminem |
|
FOUL-mouthed rap sensation Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - has horrified4A parents . |
Fear |
parents |
Eminem |
I am the most hated5A person on this planet. |
Hate |
people generally |
Author |
I've been spat on5B by kids in the supermarket. |
Hate |
kids |
Author |
all the parents who I know are horrified6A by the lyrics to his songs |
Fear |
parents |
lyrics |
He doesn't hate8A women or homosexuals |
Hate |
Eminem |
women etc |
His answer was the more foul he was the more people loved9A him. |
Love |
people generally |
Eminem |
If he wrote a song about how much he loved10A his mother and little brother, |
Love |
Eminem |
mother etc |
he'd be laughed at10B. |
Contempt |
people generally |
Eminem |
Marshall remains very angry with me |
Anger |
Eninem |
Author |
I love him so much |
Love |
Author |
Eminem |
He has hurt me terribly |
Distress |
Author |
Eminem |
I once asked him why he was so angry with me. |
Anger |
Eminem |
Author |
he would have hated me even more |
Hate |
Eminem |
Author |
and he just stormed out. |
Anger |
Eminem |
Author |
if he hated me so much |
Hate |
Eminem |
Author |
turned all his anger on me. |
Anger |
Eminem |
Author |
He loves Hailie so much |
Love |
Eminem |
daughter |
He was delighted. |
Happiness |
Eminem |
brother |
I have always loved kids and fostered four |
Love |
Author |
children |
One of those troubled souls was Kim Scott |
Distress |
girlfriend |
|
Until then Marshall was a normal, happy boy. |
Happiness |
Eminem |
|
She changed him, she wound him up, |
Anger |
Eminem |
girlfriend |
and they had the most terrible rows. |
Anger |
Eminem/ girlfriend |
|
I had to break up the cursing between them. |
Anger |
Eminem/ girlfriend |
|
When they had a row he took it out on his car, |
Anger |
Eminem/ girlfriend |
|
he would come screaming home |
Anger |
Eminem |
girlfriend |
Another thing that deeply traumatised him as a youth was the death of his uncle Ronnie, my brother. |
Distress |
Eminem |
|
When Ronnie killed himself, Marshall was devastated. |
Distress |
Eminem |
|
Nathan told me and I am very angry with Marshall for doing that. |
Anger |
Author |
Eminem |
There was a mess up over a car repayment and he went berserk and blamed me. |
Anger |
Eminem |
Author |
he resents I sheltered him so much from the real world. |
Anger |
Eminem |
Author |
I am guilty of loving my son too much. |
Love |
Author |
Eminem |
My purpose here is not to provide a detailed analysis of the text but to provide a few hints as to the sorts of insights which such an Attitudinal analysis may provide. We, might, for example, be interested in exploring the author's apparent communicative purposes and the Attitudinal choices by these have been pursued. To me, they are intriguing. Here, of course, we have entered the strange, netherworld of celebrity and pop-stardom US style where, as in this case, mothers feel the need to defend themselves before the world (and take legal action) against accusations levelled at them by their children. (The article appeared at a time when the author, Debbie Mathers-Briggs, was suing her son for £6.8 million over some of his lyrics in which he suggested his mother used marijuana, or more strictly that "My mom smokes more dope than I do".) Our analysis reveals the author to be working with the following attitudinal profiles:
The author's strategy then, with respect to arousing our sympathy and winning our support for her own position, is to declare herself universally hated and unstintingly loving. Her strategy with respect to her son is somewhat more complicated. She purports, at one level, to be defending her son and explaining his actions - as a 'good mother should'. Thus she reports on his prior-to loving nature, his distress at his uncle's death etc. And yet, of course, given the amount of words documenting her son's 'unmotivated' anger, this is a very strange sort of defence, a defence which fades very rapidly into accusation and recrimination. This is damming with fading praise and even louder damnation.
We notice, as well, how self-centric the article is with respect to textual organisation, and especially with respect to the opening and closing stages. The author begins by documenting the hatred currently being directed against her and ends by declaring the resilience of her love for her vitriolic son.
The notes to this point have outlined the system of Affect in broad outline. The Appraisal framework provides for an analysis of this set of meanings in greater detail and with a greater delicacy of analysis. That is to say, it provides a much more fine-grained set of sub-categories of types of Affect to enable more detailed analysis of Affectual choices. Sections exploring this more delicate level of analysis will be added here later. For now you may like to look at the summary of these categories provided in the Appraisal Outline on the appraisal web site at (www.languageofevaluation.info/appraisal) or you may like to consult either Martin 1997 or Martin 2000 where a full discussion is provided.
Martin, J.R. 1997. 'Analysing Genre: Functional Parameters', in Genres and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School, Christie, F. & Martin, J.R. (eds), London, Cassell: 3-39.
--- 2000. 'Beyond Exchange: APPRAISAL Systems in English', in Evaluation in Text, Hunston, S. & Thompson, G. (eds), Oxford, Oxford University Press.
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