A Research Of Grammatical Metaphor In English Commentary Of Ecological Documentary

With the ongoing development of industrial society,the topic of ecology is becoming an global topic.Since the first environmental news collection Silent Spring was internationally published in 1960s,a boom in research on ecological issue has been unprecedentedly aroused in media communication.An increasing number of documentary uncover such eco-problems as environmental pollution and resource shortage by virtue of public screen and show a deep concern about the prospect of human survival.Besides,in the interface field between ecology and modern linguistics,ecological construction of discourse emerges in response to ecological crisis.Linguists start to think about how language influences environment and how to make human language better represent ecological system.Systemic-functional linguistics,represented by Halliday,proposes an unique multi-dimensional interpretation of ecological issue,ecology of language and linguistics of ecology.Grammatical metaphor(abbreviated as GM),as an important notion of functional grammar,provides the construction of ecological discourse with a working theoretical tool and an efficient way to mean.This thesis adopts the combination of quantitative method and qualitative method,and takes Hallidayan approach to GM as theoretical framework,thus conducting an eco-discourse analysis on English commentaries of three ecological documentaries that are renowned all around the world.The present research aims at exploring stylistic function,situational connotation and socio-ecological value that grammatical metaphors bring about in correspondence with particular genre of ecological commentary,in the course of which the direct correlation between grammatical choice and discourse situation as well as the ultimate correlation between grammatical choice and social structure can be made clear,meanwhile,a new perspective within the framework of functional grammar for the writing of ecological commentary as well as contemporary ecological civilization to apply is being fully ready to be promoted.This thesis concludes with findings mainly from the following three aspects.Firstly,GM presents a common existence in English commentary of ecological documentary(abbreviated as ECED),and enjoys both richness in metaphorizing mechanism and diversity in rate of occurrence.Differing stylistic effects are produced as a result of differing grammatical metaphorization.Secondly,GM is capable to be well integrated into the situational context of ECED.The cross-coupling between semantic categories and grammatical ranks leads to the reconfiguration of ecological meaning potential and then creates extra situational connotations,thus facilitating the construal of ecological meaning.Thirdly,the choice made among varying forms of GM unfolds the ideological control of ecocentrism and is ultimately restricted by profound power relationship hidden beyond particular socio-ecological structure.Ecological commentary stems from society and ecology,however,it in turn reacts on society and ecology by means of GM.In general,the analytical model of applying GM to eco-discourse analysis on ECED not only enriches the systemic-functional framework of eco-discourse analysis but also contributes to the realization of socio-ecological value that ecological commentary is produced with.Therefore,a particular method within the scope of functional grammar can be provided for non-native speakers to find out commentary skills of English ecological documentary and raise the efficiency of appreciation,thus reinforcing the public sense of eco-protection and contributing to the sustainable development of human society.