Social Reality in the Languages of al-Sīra al-Hilāliya and Robin Hood: A Systemic Functional Analysis
By salma sameh
()
About this ebook
This study attempts to examine the relationship between language and social reality. Further, it aims at tackling differences in the social realities of the two texts through an analysis of the language using the experiential level of Halliday's systemic functional grammar.
This research is divided into six chapters namely introduction, background to the study, methodology, results and discussion and conclusion and recommendations. Introduction is composed of statement of the research problem, rationale of the study, aim of the study, research questions and definition of terms.
In order to compare both texts, a comparative statistical analysis is conducted. Through this analysis, it is easier to figure out the dominance of the processes, participants and circumstances. Then, comparing them to the other text reflects the impact of social reality on the language. The similar motifs is compared to find out the different linguistic choices in expressing social relaties such as war of words versus war of action, companion treatment, intensive details, dominance of the hero, etc.
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Social Reality in the Languages of al-Sīra al-Hilāliya and Robin Hood - salma sameh
Cairo University
Faculty of Arts
Department of English Language and Literature
Social Reality in the Languages of al-Sīra al-Hilāliya and Robin Hood: A Systemic Functional Analysis
By
Salma Sameh Saad Salem
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the M. A Degree
Under the Supervision of
Associate Professor Norice William Methias
And
Professor Khalid Abouel-Lail
April 2018
Synopsis
THIS STUDY ATTEMPTS to examine the relationship between language and social reality. Further, it aims at tackling differences in the social realities of the two texts through an analysis of the language using the experiential level of Halliday's systemic functional grammar.
This research is divided into six chapters namely introduction, background to the study, methodology, results and discussion and conclusion and recommendations. Introduction is composed of statement of the research problem, rationale of the study, aim of the study, research questions and definition of terms.
Background to the study exposes the various approaches to the study of folktales such as structuralism and Malinowskian functionalism. Then, it shifts to trace the origin of Sīra, its development, the studies conducted on al-Sīra al-Hilāliya, its plot, characters, structure, role of the narrator and musical instruments used in the narrative process. The third part kind of parallels the second one but it is concerned with Robin Hood. It starts with its origin then displays the plot, characters, structure and a review of various studies. The last part focuses on the studies which applied SFG.
The method of analysis applied in this study is the mixed qualitative and quantitative method. A comparative analysis using statistics and numbers highlights the dominance of processes. The analysis is applied on two folktales; al-Sīra al-Hilāliya, and Robin Hood. It examins selected episodes from al-Sīra al-Hilāliya which was textually documented by Khalid ʾAbouel-Lail in 2012 and Robin Hood: his life and legend (1984) by Bernard Miles. A review of the framework of analysis is considered essential that is why it is included in the study. Further, a short summary of ʿAbdel Tawwāb’s modified theory of Halliday’s systemic functional grammar is added in order to highlight the differences between analyzing Arabic and English Language, however this theory is not used in this study. Then, one of the issues that faced the researcher, which is embedding, is represented in a different section.
In order to compare both texts, a comparative statistical analysis is conducted. Through this analysis, it is easier to figure out the dominance of the processes, participants and circumstances. Then, comparing them to the other text reflects the impact of social reality on the language. The similar motifs is compared to find out the different linguistic choices in expressing social relaties such as war of words versus war of action, companion treatment, intensive details, dominance of the hero, etc.
To conclude, the findings show mainly the dialogic culture that reflected through the usage of verbal processes and in the wars of words. The material processes, on the other hand, are dominant in Robin Hood thereby representing active mobility.
الملخص
تسعي هذه الدراسه لفحص العلاقة بين اللغة و الواقع الأجتماعي, أيضا تهدف الي استعراض الأختلافات الظاهرة في الواقع الأجتماعي للنصين من خلال تحليل اللغه بأستخدام المستوي التجريبي للنحو الوظيفي النظامي لهاليداي.
ينقسم هذا البحث لستة فصول وهم المقدمة وخلفية الدراسة والمنهجية والنتائج و المناقشة والخاتمة والتوصيات. تتشكل المقدمة من وصف المشكلة والسبب الجوهري لدراستها و اهداف البحث و تساؤلات البحث وتحديد المفاهيم.
تستعرض خلفية البحث مناهج متعدده لدراسة الحكاية الشعبية مثل البنيوية والوظائفية الملنويسكية. ثم تنتقل الي اقتفاء اثر اصل السيرة وحبكة روايتها وشخصيتها وبنيتها ودور الراوي والألات الموسيقية المستخدمة في العملية الحكائيه. الجزء الثالث تقريبا يوازي الجزء الثاني ولكن يركز علي روبن هود. يبدأ بأصله ثم يستعرض الحبكة والشخصيات والبنية وعرض لمختلف الدراسات. يتمركز الجزء الأخير علي الدراسات التي طبقت النحو الوظيفي النظامي.
المنهج التحليلي المستخدم في هذه الدراسة هو المنهج المختلط الكمي و الكيفي. يبرز التحليل المقارن باستخدام الأحصائيات و الأرقام أهمية الأساليب. تم تطبيق التحليل علي حكايتين شعبيتين: السيرة الهلالية و روبن هود. ويفحص حلقات مختارة من السيرة الهلالية التي تم تدونها علي يد خالد ابو الليل في 2012 وروبن هود:حياته و أسطورته لبيرنارد مايلز)1984). تعتبر المراجعة لأطار التحليل أساسية و لهذا تم ادراجها في هذا البحث. وأيضا,تم أضافة ملخص قصيرلنظرية عبد التواب المعدلة عن النحو الوظيفي النظامي بغية تسليط الضوء علي الأختلاف بين تحليل اللغة العربية و الأنجليزية ولكن لم يتم استخدام هذه النظرية في هذه الدراسة. ثم واحدة من المشاكل التي واجهت الباحث وهي التضمين تم عرضها في جزء منفصل.
كي يتم مقارنة النصين, تم تدبر تحليل أحصائي مقارن و من خلال هذا التحليل كان من السهل معرفة هيمنة الأساليب والمشاركين و الظروف. ثم تعكس مقارنة هذه التحليل للنص الأخر تأثير الواقع الأجتماعي علي اللغة. تم مقارنة العناصر المتكرره المتشابهه لكشف الأختيارات اللغوية المختلفه للتعبير عن الواقع الأجتماعي مثل حرب الكلام ضد حرب الأفعال, معاملة الرفيق, التفاصيل الدقيقة, هيمنة البطل والخ.
نستنتج ان النتائج تظهر بشكل رئيسي الثقافة الحوارية التي تنعكس من خلال استخدام الأساليب الكلامية والحرب الكلامية. ومن ناحية أخري تسيطر الأساليب الفعلية علي روبن هود لهذا يمثل التحركية النشطة.
Abstract
THE PURPOSE OF THIS study is to investigate how language reflects the social reality in the two folktales: Robin Hood and al-Sīra al-Hilāliya. It attempts to analyze from a linguistic perspective two textually documented folktales from two different cultures. Through a systemic functional analysis, it explores variation in the social reality in the two folktalkes. Six episodes, three from each folktale, are selected based on similarities in motifs and analyzed using the experiential level of Halliday. The method of analysis is a mixed quantative-qualitative one. Having reached statistical results regarding the use of processes, participants and circumstances, the research looks closely at the text to highlight differences in the social realities of both. The results show a distinction between both al-Sīra al-Hilāliya and Robin Hood in the delineation of war, fantasm, treatment of companions and women, dominance of the hero, use of circumstantial details and dialogic nature of the processes in both. It also draws attention to aspects of social realty in the two folktales that are not accounted for by Halliday’s SFG.
Keywords: Folktales, Robin Hood, al-Sīra al-Hilāliya, Systemic Functional Grammar, Social Reality
المستخلص
يتمثل الهدف من هذه الدراسة في البحث في الكيفية التي تعكس بها اللغة الواقع الاجتماعي في حكايتين شعبيتين وهما روبن هود
والسيرة الهلالية
، حيث تهدف إلى أن تحلل من منظور لغوي هاتين الحكايتين الشعبيتين الموثقتين في صورة نصية واللتين تنتميان إلى ثقافتين مختلفتين، كما توضح التغيير في الواقع الاجتماعي في الحكايتين الشعبيتين عن طريق تحليل وظيفي نظامي. واُختيرت ست حلقات، ثلاث من كل حكاية، بناءً على أوجه التشابه في الأفكار الرئيسية، وحُلِلت باستخدام المستوى التجريبي لهاليداي، وتجدر الإشارة إلى أن طريقة التحليل تجمع بين بين الكم والكيف. وتمعن الدراسة النظر في النص لإبراز الاختلافات في الواقعين الاجتماعيين للحكايتين الشعبيتين، وذلك بعدما خلصت إلى نتائج إحصائية فيما يتعلق باستخدام الأساليب والمشاركين والظروف، وتظهر هذه النتائج فرقاً واضحاً بين كل من السيرة الهلالية
وروبن هود
في تعريف الحرب والخيال ومعاملة الرفيق والمرأة، وسيطرة البطل، واستخدام التفاصيل الظرفية، والطبيعة الحوارية للأساليب في كليهما. وتلفت الدراسة الانتباه كذلك إلى جوانب الواقع الاجتماعي في الحكايتين الشعبيتين والتي لم يأخذها النحو الوظيفي النظامي لهاليداي بعين الاعتبار.
الكلمات الرئيسة: الحكايات الشعبية، روبن هود,
السيرة الهلالية
، النحو الوظيفي النظامي, الواقع الأجتماعي
Dedication
TO MY AWESOME MOTHER Azza, for your kindness and devotion, and for your endless support.
To my genuine sister Sara, for being a source of encouragement and inspiration to me throughout my life.
To my beloved Uncle Khalid, thanks for being a father to me.
To my lovely Aunt Hanan, for being a friend and for your constant support.
To my Uncle Hesham, for teaching me loads of things.
To my Uncle Osama, for your marvelous strength that keeps astonishing me.
To my fiancé Diaa, without whom I could not have achieved various things.
To my brother-in-law Sherif, for being so supportive in hardships.
To my friends, Zahra and Eman, for being true sisters to me.
To my best friend Mai, for everything you did for me.
To my little brothers; Zeyad and Marwan, thanks for all the laughs we have together.
In memory of my father, Sameh. You left fingerprints of grace on our lives. You shan’t be forgotten.
In memory of my grandmother, Anna. You are truly missed.
Acknowledgement
I WOULD FIRST LIKE to thank my supervisors Dr Norice Methias and Dr Khalid Abouel-Lail. They consistently guided me in the right the direction. Without them, I would have never achieved this research.
I am also indebted to Dr Ibrahim ʿAbd el-Tawwāb, who helped me through the SFG analysis of the Arabic text.
I would also like to thank the members of the panel for helping me to improve the thesis with their useful remarks and for accepting to take part in the viva.
In addition, I would like to acknowledge Dr Salwa Kamel’s effort as a second reader of this thesis, and I am gratefully indebted to her for her very valuable comments.
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family, my friends and my fiancé for providing me with constant support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you all.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Synopsis ............................................................... ii
Abstract ............................................................... vi
Table of Contents .................................................... x
List of Tables ......................................................... xv
List of Abbreviations ................................................ xvi
Conventions Used in this Research ................................ xviii
Chapter One: Introduction .......................................... 1
1.1 Statement of the Research Problem ....................... 1
1.2 Aim of the Study:............................................ 2
1.3 Rationale of the Study ....................................... 2
1.4 Research Questions .......................................... 3
1.5 Definition of Terms ......................................... 4
Chapter two: Background to the study ........................... 7
2.1 A Review of the Various Approaches to the Study of Folklore 7
2.2 al-Sīra al-Hilāliya: A prefatory note: ..................... 13
2.2.1 Development of Sīra:............................. 13
3.2.2 Origin of al-Sīra al-Hilāliya:.................... 15
2.2.3 Plot: ................................................ 16
2.2.4 Characters: ........................................ 17
2.2.5 Poetry Versus Prose:............................. 19
2.2.6 Rhyme and Music:............................... 21
2.2.7 The Role of the Narrator:........................ 21
2.2.8 Musical Instruments:............................ 24
2.2.9 Studies on al-Sīra al-Hilāliya:.................. 25
2.3 Robin Hood: A prefatory note: ............................ 31
2.3.1 Origin of Robin Hood: ........................... 31
2.3.2 Plot:..................................................