прагматика и медиа дискурс / 语用学关键概念 Key Notions for Pragmatics (2009)
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As I already indicated above, medium tends to be essentially conceived \o\-lthin linguistics in terms of a polar dichotomybetween spoken and written language (which echoes the anthropological distinction between orality and literacy). Publications which strongly affirm this dichotomy include Halliday (1989) and Tannen ( 1982, 1984), and. for instance, Goody (1977) for the anthropological correlates.• Although the dichotomy between spoken and written language is seen in gradable and not necessarily in mutually exclusive tenns. it is nevertheless fundarnentally conceptualized as a basic division which is operative in language use: language use is either spoken or written (and correspondingly, societies either count as oral or literate. depending on whether they know writing). It is aJso assumed that the detailed inventory of the differences between speech and writing can be used as a basic tool for the description of varia· lion in language use. So, linguists have also come up with cmnplex sub-categories to accommodate 'mixed' occurrences as well as the effects of transfers as is reflected in a characterization of. say. a political speech as "language written lby a ghost-writer! to be spoken Iby a politician 1. so as to be written down again later on Iwhen reported by the press]" (cf. Gregory & Carroll 1978: 47; Halliday 1 978: 144). Yet, one can ask oneselfwhether any such binary cleavage oflinguistic and socio-cultural practice into two •camps' isjustified, what its socio-scientific foundations are. and, most importantly, whether such a polarization is in any case sufficient to come to terms with the enor mously diverse range ofcommunicative uses which one comes across in practice. To explore this set ofproblems, let us look in detail at a number of cases.
1.1Print and handwriting
To begin with, note that when linguists talk about spoken or written language, they prototypically refer to both aspects oflanguage use and aspects ofthe physical channel through which language is conveyed. '"'ith this conflation of meanings in the back· ground. onecan turn to the well-documented historicallypivotal period in which print ing spread in Western Europe - a crucial stage in the establishment ofcodified written language.s. This period essentially involved the transformation ofone form of written language (hand-written manuscripts) into another form of written language (printed books). In order to get a handle on this pivotal transformation in the discourse practices of 'rVe.stern societies. which, as we all know. radically enlarged and transformed the potential for written genres, one is invited to make the most ofthe distinction between hand-written and printed documents and consider the larger sodo-cuhuraJ impact of the technological innovation which occurred: in this case. the difference between (i) a handwritten manuscript \o\-lth a local base ofpreservation and manual copying as the
1. Lcutkcmcyer ct al. (1984) offer an annotated bibliography of rese3r<:h on spoken vs. written language.
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sole means of reproduction. to be consumed on the premises (often also the location where it was produced) by a highly limited number of readers (who are members of particular social groups, such as monks. aristocrats). vs. (ii) a printed version ofan initially handwritten text.which hasbeen produced on a quantifiable basis and iscon
sumed in diverse localitiesbylargeraudiences with adifferentsocialbackground.Note that in the course of this transition, hand-writing as a matrix oflanguage production must have transformed itselfconsiderably, as its role, in man}' instances. was pushed back to the stage of preparing a document before printing. Clearly> a mere concept of 'written language' in this case is a rather blunt instrument. The 13th century hand written manuscripts. to our ears, have clear roots in oral traditions (especially when compared with the printed books to which we are so accustomed now). For instance, spelling inconsistenciesin manuscripts areattributedto phonological variation, having to do with the regional origins ofindividual scribents or copiers. Yet, to interpret this as an indication of what was a more oral society can onl}' be done retrospectively. as it presuppose...<; the comparative notional perspective ofa present-day society in which spelling is divorced from phonological variation within the language community. To the 13th century user, these manuscripts must have counted as written language and as radically different from spoken language. The rather obvious conclusion from this is that, in any case, what is classifiable asspoken or written language, in the sense of particular observable features oflanguage use or institutionalized mat1·ices oflanguage production and consumption, changes over time {c( Heath 1982).
1.2Televization and secondary orality
Of course, one could counter now with an attempt at rescuing the usefulness of a key dichotomy between written and spoken language by insisting on a synchronic Jinguistic·descriptilre perspective. In other words, linguist...o; can perfectly legitimately workwithacompositenotionof.say.the written language, provided onestays wtthin the boundaries ofone area and one era. Yet, even in that case. I am compelled to conclude that this is not enough. Let usto this purpose turn to the twentiethcenturyand examine the case oftelevisioJl broadcasting. In this context. Durant (1984) introduces the term secondary orality to denote the sociocultural stage in which spoken language can be mechanically recorded and preserved, reproduced and consumed more than once in a multiplicity of situations. I suggest that we concentrate on one of the most salient and prestigious manifestations ofsecondary orality. viz. spoken television news and compare it witJ1 a conversation which goe.s on at the same time in one of the living rooms wherethe news isbeingwatched. vVhenweexaminethe language use,we must. almost inevitably, conclude that the television nev1s has more in common with writ· ten language than with the inpromptu talk in the living room: he.sitations. pauses and non-fluency, false starts and instant reformulations are to be routine)}' avoided and
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range of discursive, situational, institutional and societal realities with which the,-;e are tied up. 11lis includes questions about the distribution of complex communica· tion channels over institutions and institutional domains, as well as questions about their relativeprestige as reflected in their capacity to outweigh and complement each other in affectingcertain propertiesofthe discourse. For this son ofundertaking,one needsa typeofdiscourse analysis, which is sufficientlyattuned togeneric differentia· tion in institutional contexts. while not ruling out the wider perspective of putting on the map a more global ordering of discourse practices. In a similar vem, Barton (1994: 90-91 and 187) advocates an approach which focuses on 'language events' as an alternative to 'literacy events', this way extending the complexity argument to the orality/literacy debate. Discussing the implications of replacing the idea of'continua' separatingspoken from written language with a concept of'configurations oflanguage use: he pointsout:
The onginal Investigations of dtffercnces between wntlen and spoken language were based upon the idea that a hterate culturt shakes offthe seeming inadequacies of oral culture and devdops distinctl}' difftrent wars of making mtanmg and of communicating. Conscquentlr the role of spoken language and oral traditions in literate culture were played down. [...) (Yttl. even in the most stemingly literate of cnvironmtnts, such as the lawcourt, a schoolroom or a universit)' oflicc, most ofthe conventions of how to act and what to do an: passed on orally. 1...) !Spoken and writkn languag ) are not actually separable in rtal life, since spoken language is an important context for most literacy events. (Barton
Reversing the argument, it equally holds that television news, although spoken, is fundamentally surrounded by traditional forms ofliteracy, which may not be trans· parantlyvisible to language users, but are nevertheltss presupposed.
Thus, it is just as important to address the attendant questions of how forms ofspeech and writing in the course of historically changing conditions of channel have influenced each other, and how, as a result, these forms ofspeech and writing are caught up in socio cognitive meta-linguistic frameworks. By the latter I mean especially forms of language awareness, but, by extension, also linguistic theories. This is certainly required if one is to explain that aspect of the history of televi sion broadcasting in the 20th century which I drew attention to above: although the growth of telev1zation has amounted to a fundamental re-claiming of a posi tion ofcentralit}' ofspeech in society (as it now can be recorded preserved and be used quite effectively fordirectly addressing large audiences facilities previously reserved for printed documents), quite paradoxically, television turned out to be an extremely favorable vehicle for promoting the norms ofwritten language in public speech (as is testified by the practices of television news and by the results ofatti tudinal research on the relatively high prestige of television practices as normative models oflanguage use).
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Add to this the following further observations: (a) that often one hears the judge
ment that speakers who happen to hesitate a lot, use a lot of false starts, etc. tend to be seen as not-so fluent speakers, or even 'bad speakers' altogether {even though, by the dictums of conversation analysis, they would be classified as producing some of the protot}'Pical features of spoken language); (b) that a theoretical-linguLc;tic concept like non-fluency casts speaker he.sitancy in the negative terms ofa departure from an ideal offluent (grammaticallycorrect and lexically prec1se)speech; (c) that, before the work ofconversation analysts. linguists mostly studied written language, but took it to be the language as a whole; (d) that it was not possible to conceive ofdisciplines like conversation analysis, until the technological condition of audio and video-recording was available; (e) that there iscertainI)' a .connection to be found between thespread of social-scientific research into the nature ofconversation and the current wide-spread strategic, not-so-spontaneous adoption ofspontaneous speech forms on television and radio; and,finally, (f) thattherecentmovetowardsspontaneousoralityandcolloquiality in television broadcasting ismatchedbyparalleldevelopments in the production ofcer· tain t)'Pesofprinteddocuments. Onecan refer hereto theuseof'conversational'models in institutional attempts at bridging the infonnation gap with thegeneral public(cf. the useofquestion/answer-formats in information leaflets). Adding up these observations, one begins to see the contoursofarather complexsynchronic picture whichcallsfor an appreciation ofthecomplexsocio-historicdynamicofchangingformsandnormsoflan· guageusewhich, in itself.cannotbe understoodunlessoneextendsthe scopeofenquiry to mattersoflanguageawareness. Fortunately, theneeded maximal differentiation atthe level ofappreciating the subtle conditions ofchannelsofcommunication, which I have advocated so far, doesnotseem to go against the possibility ofarriving at a more global landscapeofdiscourse practices in a given socio-.cultural conte>..1
In fact, one can add even more observations to sharpen the researched picture further. Here I will restrict myselftojust one whichstressestheadditional importance ofthe social scenarios which steer the distributional development ofcertain channel technologiesin particular directions.Since 1976, the British parliamentaryrecord,the Hansard, has been complemented first by permanent sound-recording and later by video-recording ofthe debates in two legislativechambers.This has been done espe· dally for the purposes ofnews coverage, as the tapes are ofno value to the House of Commons itselfas a kind ofofficial record. The Hansard, produced through what is an extremety e!\'Pensive and labor-intensive operation involving transcribers, editors, publishers, etc., continues to remain the institution'sonly officiallyrecognized form of record-keeping {despite the obvious greater accuracy of the sound/video recordings and despite the extra costs in maintaining simultaneous forms ofrecord keeping). It is also the printed Hansard which continues to be MPs' and historians' sole sources of quotation. Clearly, the growth in audio and video recording technologies in the twentieth century has not equally affected all domains of language use. In this case,
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the normative status ofthe printed word is surely one factor behind the reluctance to develop particular technologiesofrecord keeping in a particular direction.2
2.Beyond the verbal: The visual and the digital
InSection 1 I haveshownwhyabasicdistinctionbetweenspokenandwrittenistoocrude adistinction forpragmatic research. Let us nowturn tothesecond part ofrnyclaim: that abasicspoken/\'llitten dichotomyis also too narrow. Oneadditional problem whichsur· rounds the spoken/written dichotomy is not so much concemed with the neglect ofthe channel-complexities underneath diverse manifestations ofspeech and writing. as with the realization that thedichotomy istoo·one-sidedlyfocused on the verbal.
2.1Multi-modality and the visual
Examining the presence of expert voices in mass media programmes, Fairclough (1995: 141) notes that, unlike in radio programme,o;, expert identities and expert· audience relationshipsare constructed visually as well as in language. Audience reac· tions shown on camera while an expert is talking construct the n'Pert as an authority whose pronouncements the audience 1s prepared to accept. In addition. a significant part of the expert's performance is her/his non-verbal communication, as is testified by the continuous use ofexpressive hand movements and the useofthe body in alter natingaddress. But m acase like 71u! OpraiJ \'Vi1tjrey show) there isalso theshow host. who (unlike the radio programme host) is notseated and makes ample useofphysical movement as an additional device for orchestrating the allocation of turns between panel, audience and experts (e.g.) when literall)• taking the tnicrophone to a member ofthe audience,or positioning herselfin between panel and audience when introduc inga topic). ote that the relative spatial positioningofspeakersandaudiences in this kind of genre is a calculated factor which media producers attend to when judging the suitability ofthe discourse as an instance of a televized genre. What is more, the discursive significance of the visual arrangements in the recording studio cannot be isolated from the seleclive montage ofsequences ofcamera shots which make up the visual discourse which eventually reaches the television-watchingaudiences.3
2. Another factor has to do with legitimizing the proceedings. Unlike the video-recordings. the printed Hansard allowsthe institution to maintain a dualitybetween what can be said on thefloor and what enters the record for posterity. for a detailed discussion of this aspect,sec Slembrouck
(1992: l lSff.).
3· Despite the ratherobvious similarities in visual discour1iebetween paneldiscussions on televi sion and in,say,a lecture theatre of a universit}'. one should not underestimate the impact of the
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dealing with more than one ofthese manifestations at the same time. This situation we refer toasmulti-mediaandone keyaspectofitspresentappearanceresidesinitsassociated modesofmonitoring,viz.ltyperle:xt (thelatterstands for a mode ofsemiotkorganization in which you can move from one to the next serniotic instance by clicking your mouse on a particular icon or a designated textual zone on the screen ofa personalcomputer).
Although it has only recently become a buzz-word, there is nothing absolutely revolutionaryor newabout multi-mediaforms ofcommunication.Youraverage report in a television news broadcast counts as multi-media, as it combmes moving picture,o;
'A'ith recordedsound, to which are furtheradded: thevoice-over ofthecorrespondent, and, in many cases, also printed tex't at the bottom of the screen (for instance. iden tifying the correspondent or giving details ofthe locality/date ofthe filming). Think also ofa subtitled situation comedy as a form ofmulti-media practice which cannot be understood unless you consider the constitutive requirements of complex forms ofsynchronization between the titles themselves, the talking heads and the dialogue which is heard. This synchronization includes the dove-tailing ofwhat is heard and what is read. It is further constrained both by the number ofcharacters which can go into theone or two linesreserved at thebottom ofthescreen and bythe period oftime which isneeded fora person to readtheline,taking furtherintoaccount that theviewers must divide their attention between what they get to hear, see and read.
Why then has the term multi-mediaonly recentlybecome so pervasive? The best answer to this question is probably that with the technological resource ofdigitaliza tion, multi-mediacommunicationcan nowavail itselfofonecomrnon modeofstorage and transmission. with the result that it has come within the scope of the individual user ofa personal computer. In tenns ofassessing the relativespread over institutions and private individuals this counts as both wide and narrow, at the same time. Thus, binarity is not realtya 'new' channel ofcommunication, but it has meant the furthest reaching complexity and integration in terms of existing channels so far: all other channels can be translated intodigital format, giving risetoan enormous potential for manipulation and simulation. Hence. the question about the precise nature ofbina rity may in itself be less important (the answer is fairly straightforward: computing combinationsof1sand Os). The answer to the question about the limilson translating and integrating other channels into binary format and vice versa hasequaJty become very straightforward. As the limitson the translation process are graduaUydisappear ing altogether, the remaining important issue is that of understanding the impact of binary integration vis-a-vis the integrated and manipulated media.11
8. For instance, nowadays S}'nchronization of $Ubtitles and dialogue is computed digitally and, therefore, it is likely to be more precise than used to be the case,although the fundamental prin ctplcsofproduction have not really changed.
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Language and communication researchersshould be interested in the 'new' types of multi4media, because their professional interest should not only go towards the new material vehicles ofcommunication {e.g., CD-ROM, CD-WORM, CD-I, on-line communication and information-retrieval viaelectronic networkssuch as Internet or Bitnet, etc.) but aJso,more importantly, tothe impactofthe.se innovationson (existing ornew)genres: think, forinstance, oflanguagecorpora,encyclopaedias and dictionar· ies nowavailableon CD·ROM, messagessent as electronic mail or voice mail, student guides now available as web pages with glossy con1puter graphics, etc. One reason for why generic transformations are very important sites ofstud)r is that they nearly alwa)'Sgo togetherwith transformations at the level ofsocial relationships.
Is e mail a new genre then? In most of the above cases. one must conclude the 'ne"'" genresare actually transformationsofalready existing ones (without concluding that there is a stable uniform practice). In the case ofdictionaries on CD-ROM. the transformational aspect is pretty obvious, but also an apparently novel genre like the electronic mail message has borrowed conventions from already established genres. in thiscase the memorandum. Consider for instance the visual lay-out ofthe messages and their organization around slots like 'From:', 'To: 'Cc:: 'Fcc:: 'Attachments:', the practice offorwarding a message after reception. but also thest)rlistic expectations of informality which, for some users at least, accompanythe use ofe-mail.9At the same lhne, it is just
genres. For instance, unlike the conventional dictionary, digital dictionaries on CD ROM allow one,say, to ask fora Jist ofall the wordswhich have a particularphraseor word in their definition, thus opening up certain possibilities for research into texico· graphic practicewhichwereruledout in thecaseofconventionaldictionaries (because ofthe sheer hurnan effort they involved). Silnilarly, encyclopaedias on CD-ROM like Encarta are still largely made up oftext and pictures.although sound fragments have nowbeen added, and, asa resuh, the balance between illustrative material and author itativeexposition has changed in favorofasenseof'experiendng' the topics discussed (in some cases, through reconstructions and simulations). 1l1e same point applies to electronic mail.Unlike theconventionallyscribbled memo. thee-mail messageis typed in with a keyboard, although it n1ay carrysimilar expectations of impromptu produc· tion (as reflected in the relativelygreat tolerancetowardstypos). Unlike the memo, the e·mail messagecan cover a fewthousand miles in a fewminutes(a radical transforma tlon at the level ofwho can be addressed in this way)> while contributing to a degree
9· ote, however, that e-mail in itself comprises a number ofgenres, with different forms of ancestry. Compare, for instance, the personal message (like a memo) with the conference announcement which is mailed to a list of subscribers (in quite a number of respcccs, like a conventional conference circular).