Text Transformation: The Art of Parody

Abstract

In the two Language in Use (LIU) classes offered at the Department of English and American Studies, students are sensitised to, and encouraged to experiment with, various aspects and procedures of writing, which raises their general awareness of language and develops their appreciation of texts (see Schwarz-Peaker, this volume). They also improve their ability to determine connotative and figurative meanings of words and phrases and to distinguish between multiple meanings. In LIU 1, students focus more on text analyses, while in LIU 2, they are required to do both text analyses and text transformations. However, as being able to analyse a text is prerequisite for being able to transform it, the two skills are intertwined and complement each other (Paltridge, 1996, p. 235). Therefore, in both LIU 1 and 2, we study a huge variety of genres and text types – stories, e-mails, newspaper articles, book reviews, poems, proverbs, and many more.

Appendices

Appendices

1.1 Appendix 1

A Framework for Analysing a Text

1.2 Appendix 2

Approaching Texts – A Checklist for Language in Use

TEXT IN ITS CONTEXT (‘Top-down’ approach)	TEXTUAL FEATURES (‘Bottom-up’ approach)
WHO is talking with whom? • Addresser • Addressee • Relationship between them • Social group • Gender • Age WHERE was it produced? • Area: e.g., region, culture, language variety • Mode (of discourse): spoken - written • Medium: radio, TV, newspaper, etc. • Situation: e.g., formal – informal, public – private WHICH text type does belong to? • Text type (genre): e.g., recipe, business letter WHAT is it about? • Subject matter WHEN was it produced? • Time WHY was it produced? • Purpose, function: e.g., to persuade, inform, explain, amuse, instruct, please HOW does the text try to achieve its purpose? (= rhetorical effects, see also Text column) • Intertextuality (=reference to other texts)	LEXIS (word choice) Core or non-core? • Formal vs. informal (Romance/Latinate – Germanic, long – short, mono−/polysyllabic, simple – complex) • Archaic, obsolete, rare, dialect words vs. colloquial, common, everyday words • Features of spoken language: (e.g., discourse particles/fillers, interjections) • Literal – figurative, plain – metaphorical, concrete – abstract • Field-specific or ‘technical’ vocabulary (e.g., chemistry, religion, advertising); jargon; acronyms • Are collocational restrictions broken? (familiar – unfamiliar collocations) Word class? • Preponderance of ADJs & ADVs (suggesting a descriptive or evaluative text) • Many nouns (a possible sign of high lexical density) • Pronouns (e.g., direct addressing of you, expressive I, impersonal it, inclusive/exclusive we, lack of 1st & second person pronouns in impersonal texts)	GRAMMAR • Tense & aspect: e.g., simple present tense suggests generalisation (e.g., informational texts); past tense is used in narratives • Passive voice (may be used for its impersonal effect) • Modal auxiliaries: express modality (e.g., certainty, obligation), politeness • Lightly – heavily modified nouns (pre- or postmodified) • Pronouns • Heavily adjectival/adverbial or mainly nouns/verbs? • Long – short sentences • Sentence types: simple (just main clause), complex (subordination), compound (coordination) • Repetition, parallelism of structures • ‘Marked’ structures (e.g., inversion, clefts, dislocation) • Direct – indirect speech • Ellipsis, sentence fragments STRUCTURE & ORGANISATION A cohesive text? (are there formal links between sentences?) • Lexical chains/sets (same semantic field)
• Allusion • Juxtaposition • Irony • Metaphor & simile	• Phrasal verbs (typical of informal, spoken language) Neutral or ‘loaded’? (denotation vs. connotation) • Biased, emotive lexis • Vogue/‘buzz’ words, euphemism • Slang, swearing, taboo words, innuendo • Superlatives, hyperbole (e.g., advertising) • ‘Modal’ words: e.g., attitudinal adverbs (unfortunately, perhaps), intensifiers, hedges/downtoners VISUAL PRESENTATION & AURAL EFFECT • Layout & visual presentation • Charts, tables, graphs... • Spelling & punctuation • Alliteration, repetition of sounds, rhyme & rhythm	• Linking words (conjunctions) • Pronouns, reference • Parallelism, repetition • Information structure: given – new A coherent text? (are the meanings of sentences /utterances linked? e.g., by way of inference, by our knowledge of the world, i.e., does it make sense?) Textual development? • General –specific, chronological, frames... • Enumeration, exemplification, comparison, contrast... • Paragraphing (topic sentences) • Identification of moves (= communicative function of passages, e.g., introduction) • Turn taking structure (in spoken texts) • Theme/topic – rheme