Comprehensive Study Notes on Coherence, Cohesion, and Political Discourse
LINGUA INGLESE II - CHAPTER 3: COHERENCE AND COHESION IN DISCOURSE
TEXT VS. DISCOURSE DEFINITIONS AND ETYMOLOGY
Terminology Distinction: Linguists use "text" and "discourse" in various ways. In this course, "text" refers strictly to the linguistic material.
Etymology of Text: Derived from the Latin textus, meaning "texture" or something woven (tissue/fabric). This reflects how a verbal text is made up of interconnected parts.
Italian Translation: The distinction is mirrored in Italian as tessuto (fabric) versus testo (text).
TEXT LINGUISTICS: THE HALLIDAY AND HASAN FRAMEWORK (1976)
Defining Text: M.A.K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan defined text as a "unit of language in use."
Linguistic Impression: Factors contributing to a text (versus a random string of sentences) include unity and wholeness.
COHESION: GRAMMATICAL AND LEXICAL RELATIONSHIPS
Cohesion Definition: The linguistic means through which a speech appears unified. It involves various lexical and grammatical relationships.
Grammatical Cohesion: Linked to the concept of reference—how words connect to other words in the text or external entities.
Exophoric Reference: Refers to entities external to the text (social/political circumstances). Example: Taylor Swift's "easter eggs."
Endophoric Reference: Refers to words within the text. It is subdivided into:
Anaphoric Reference: Understanding a word by referring back to something previously mentioned. Often realized through pronouns. Example from Kennedy's 1961 inaugural speech: "them" referring back to "those new states."
Cataphoric Reference: A word refers forward to something coming later. It is less common and used for rhetorical effect to create suspense. Example: "It is everyone's favorite subject. English linguistics is in high demand."
Deixis: Words whose meaning arises from the context of the speaker (the deictic center).
Person Deixis: Indicates participants (, , ). "You" can be ambiguous (individual vs. group); "Synthetic you" is used in ads to address a crowd personally. "We" can be exclusive (company only) or inclusive (company + consumer).
Place Deixis: Spatial relations via demonstrative adjectives ( = proximal; = distal).
Time Deixis: Encoded relative to the moment of utterance ( = proximal; = distal). The unmarked situation is defined as "ME, NOW, HERE."
Other Grammatical Cohesion Types:
Substitution: Replacing a textual element with a generic one (e.g., "I should get a new one").
Ellipsis: Omission of a word or phrase that the hearer must supply (substitution by zero). Example: "My aunt brought a cake and my grandma [brought] her famous lasagna."
Conjunctions: Words connecting sentences.
Lexical Cohesion: Based on the related senses of words.
Repetition: Hoey (1991) identifies Simple Repetition (identical form) and Complex Repetition (sharing the same root, e.g., revolution/revolutionary).
Collocation: Frequency of words co-occurring (e.g., tiger/prey). Patterns are identified using large electronic corpora.
Semantic Relations:
Synonyms: Similar senses to avoid repetition (globe/world).
Antonyms: Opposite senses (united/divided).
Gradable Antonyms: Degrees exist (wet/dry).
Non-gradable Antonyms: Absolute opposites (dead/alive).
COHERENCE: CONCEPTUAL UNITY
Definition: The impression of unity not dependent on explicit linguistic ties, but on shared background knowledge or frames of reference.
Oratory Context: Coherence arises from the convergence of the speaker's and audience's knowledge of the world.
Achieving Coherence: Logic ordering (cause-effect), smooth topic transitions, headings, subheadings, and formatting.
DE BEAUGRANDE AND DRESSLER OVERVIEW (1981)
Definition of Text: A communicative event satisfying seven criteria.
Text Internal Criteria:
Cohesion: Relationships at the level of surface structure (syntax/lexis).
Coherence: Mutually accessible concepts underlying the surface text via activation of knowledge and memory.
Text External Criteria:
Intentionality: The producer's goal.
Acceptability: The recipient's expectation of a coherent text.
Informativity: The degree of new vs. expected info. Speakers must pace info delivery.
Situationality: Factors of the context/situation.
Intertextuality: Relation to other texts (Bakhtin, 1986). This includes text types, genres, and parodies/snowclones (e.g., "Orange is the new black").
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (DA) VS. TEXT LINGUISTICS (TL)
TL Emphasis: Focuses on text-internal criteria and stable semantic meanings.
DA Emphasis: Focuses on text-external factors, viewing text and context as integrated. Language is seen as a social phenomenon.
Alba Juez (2005): TL is often seen as one approach within the broader paradigm of DA.
Definitions of Discourse:
Anything beyond the sentence (Formal approach).
Language use/functional approach (Purposes and social normalizations).
Social practice (Inextricably linked with identity and power).
THE POWER OF DISCOURSE: IDENTITY AND REALITY
Identity Performance: Identity is fluid, not just assigned at birth (e.g., choosing an accent). Meaning is negotiated between participants.
Constructing Reality: Language recreates reality for the recipient. Choice of words activates different mental images.
Conflicting Texts: Different representations of the same reality (e.g., soccer fans). Labeling the killing of Dr. David Gunn as "murder" involves the police, while "terrorism" involves the FBI.
Social Structures: Discourse determines if a condition is a "sickness" (requiring medicine) or an "imperfection" (requiring cream). Addiction varies from "moral vice" (War on Drugs) to "sickness" (Opioid Epidemic).
Foucault's Definition: Discourse as systems of thought constructing subjects and worlds.
FAIRCLOUGH’S MODEL OF A COMMUNICATIVE EVENT (1992)
Three Connected Levels:
Text: Analysis of linguistic patterns (syntax, lexis).
Discourse Practice: Processes of production and consumption (e.g., editorial processes).
Social Practice: Patterns in society/culture (e.g., gender representations, overconsumption).
Multimodality: Communication relies on more than linguistic content; it includes visuals, sign language, and speaker disposition.
GENRES AND DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES
Genre Definition: Class of communicative events sharing recognized purposes and similar patterns in structure, style, and content.
Discourse Community: Group formed by those interested in a specific genre.
Appropriateness: Culture-specific (e.g., Anglo-Saxon directness vs. Japanese indirectness).
Script: Conventions of linguistic behavior in specific situations.
Generic Advertising Features: Generic presidential ads use vague candidates, undefined fears, American flags, and lens flares to romanticize the image.
Glossary of Genre Terms:
Move: Functional unit reflecting a purpose.
Step: Building block of a move.
Rhetorical Structure: Combination of moves and steps.
Obligatory/Optional moves: Occurrences in 100% or <50% of texts.
NEWS AS DISCURSIVELY CONSTRUCTED
News Construction: News is not a value-free reflection of facts but a selection based on ideology and social categories.
Newsworthiness Factors: Recent/Timely, Negative (attrition to violence for survival), Novel, Celebrity-related, Proximity (geographical/cultural), Authoritative source, Factual/Numerical evidence, Personal/Relevant, and Continuous.
NEWS GENRES AND STRUCTURE
Report Types: Event story (accidents/disasters) vs. Issue report (discoveries/announcements).
Hard News Structure: The Inverted Pyramid. Facts in descending order of importance (most efficient for short attention spans).
Nuclear Structure:
Nucleus: Headline + Lead (5W's: who, what, where, when, why).
Satellites: Extensions of the nucleus parts, not necessarily linked to each other (facilitates editing).
Wrap-up: Resolution putting events in a wider context.
EDITORIALS AND OP-EDS
Types: Institutional (newspaper's opinion) vs. Personal (expert/intellectual).
Structure: Summary, Evaluation (analytical/persuasive), and Pragmatic Conclusion (recommendation/warning).
Persuasion Strategy: "Sandwiching" or incorporating the opposite viewpoint using concessive constructions ("Although…").
FAKE NEWS PHENOMENA
Definition: False stories created to influence politics or for monetary gain (clicks).
History: Simonino case (Middle Ages) used for collective rage. Yellow Journalism (1890s) used for sensationalism.
Categories: False/Deceptive, Misleading (spin on a shred of truth), Slanted/Biased (selective omission), Manipulated (Doctored images), and Humor (Satire/Parody).
Linguistic Markers: Fake news uses more personal pronouns, adverbs, sloppy spelling, and information-dense headlines compared to real news.
News Values of Fake News: Negativity, Unexpectedness, Factivity (use of names/dates to mirror real news), Subversiveness (undermining mainstream theories), Causality, Religiosity, and Historicity.
THE LANGUAGE OF HEADLINES
Functions: Informative (Referential/Framing) and Attracting readers.
Linguistic Omissions: Omission of function words (articles, auxiliaries, relative pronouns) for space.
Loaded Words: Emotional lexis (e.g., "Monster in the classroom").
Nominalization: Using noun phrases in subject positions (e.g., "Passenger panic").
Gimmicks: Puns, homophones, homonyms, intertextuality, metaphors, alliteration, and rhyme.
Verb Tenses: Present Simple (timeless), Past Participle (passive), Infinitive (future).
Bungled Headlines: Ambiguity due to word reduction (e.g., "Iraqi head seeks arms").
CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA)
Focus: Interplay of power and identity. It is socially committed and interpretive.
Evaluation in CDA: Attitudes, viewpoint, and feelings. Lexical choices (e.g., "blunder" vs. "error") and grammar (active vs. passive) reflect communal value systems.
Loaded Words and Euphemisms: "Correctional facility" vs. "jail"; "Collateral damage" vs. "accidental deaths."
Transitivity System (Halliday, 1994): Who does what to whom.
Participants: Agent (animated), Force (inanimated), Experiencer (states/thoughts).
Processes: Material (doing), Relational (being), Mental (sensing), Verbal (saying), Behavioural (physiological), Existential (existence).
Modality and Attribution: Using adverbs (clearly, probably) and modal verbs (must, may) to signal certainty or doubt. Disendorsement signals distance from reported speech using scare quotes or marked verbs (e.g., "claims").
METAPHORS AND FRAMING
Lakoff and Johnson (1980): We comprehend one concept (Target Domain) in terms of another (Source Domain). Example: LIFE is a JOURNEY.
Framing during COVID-19: War metaphors (NHS staff on "frontline", "invisible enemy") vs. Nature metaphors ("force of nature", "second wave"). War metaphors call for mobilization but can create anxiety and imply that those who die "fought poorly."
Similes: Explicit analogy using comparison signals (like/as).
Metonymy: One entity refers to another related one (e.g., "The Crown" for sovereignty).
THE REFRESHER ON THE CALL TO ARMS GENRE
Style and Delivery: Balance between Clarity (Attic style) and Elevation (Asianic style).
Kairos: Timing and opportunity relative to the backdrop of a crisis.
Moves of Call to Arms:
External Power Source: God, Nation, or abstract entity (e.g., Pope Urban II, Hitler).
Historical Importance of "Us": Carolingian mythology, Kingly past.
The Evil "Other": Persians, Jews, Terrorists, NATO/Western Bloc.
Unification for Rewards: Promise of heaven or earthly possessions.
POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND PERSUASION MODELS
Spin: Determining an angle to cast a subject in a positive light.
Persuasion Models:
Comparison: One argument is better than the other (Cold War context).
Problem-Solution: Framing an issue to offer a specific solution.
Authority: Citing scientists, reports, or influencers.
Association: Linking an idea with fun, beauty, or security (Emotional transfer).
Rhetorical Appeals:
Ethos: Credentials, virtue, and character.
Logos: Logic and plausible argument. Syllogisms vs. Enthymemes (incomplete syllogisms).
Pathos: Appealing to audience emotions (fear, hope).
POPULISM IN DEPTH
Thin-centred Ideology: Society is split into "pure people" and "corrupt elite."
Sovereignty of the People: Rights based in majority rule; anti-establishment; favors direct democracy (polls, referenda).
Populist Rhetoric: Reduction of complexity, saying the "unsayable," derogatory insults, scapegoating, and calculating ambivalence.
Nigel Farage (UKIP): Use of "Utilitas" (shared concerns) and the "underdog" narrative. Use of metaphors like the "blue scarf/stars" to signify silence by the EU.
Jeremy Corbyn (Labour): Slogan "The many, not the few" (Shelley reference). Used the "X is the new Y" snowclone (e.g., "Disarray is the new strong and stable").