The Selection Of Modality System In Female Identity Construction

As an important research topic of social linguistics,identity construction studies have been regarded as heated subject from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics in recent years.On the basis of qualitative method and quantitative method,this thesis analyzes the identity construction of the research discourse,Grace of Monaco,from the perspective of the selection of modality system.The present study indicates the findings as follows.Firstly,Grace prefers 57.5%modal expressions of the total expressions,which makes a great contribution to her identity construction;secondly,Grace mainly constructs three-dimensional identity of mother and wife,actress and the princess,where different identities prefer different selection of modal expression.To be more specific,when constructing the identity of a mother and wife,Grace prefers modal adjuncts and modal polarity to express her independent characteristic,her love to her children and husband;when constructing the identity of an actress,Grace prefers high modal operators and modal polarity to express her enthusiasm to act and her confidence;when constructing the identity of the princess of Monaco,Grace prefers modal polarity and modal metaphors to express her elegant image and her eagerness to the peaceful world.Thirdly,Grace's identity construction witnessed the process of adaptation,subversion and construction.In the process,the selection of Grace conforms to the theoretical background of high and low cultural context,modality politeness and public image construction.The findings of the current study can provide some points for movie studies with the understanding of female identity construction from the perspective of modality system.