Textual Analysis

Theoretical and Methodological Basis

Most prevalent linguistic thinking recognizes that language is a system. This is especially the case with the so-called systemic functional view of language. The characteristics of this system cannot, however, be understood without considering the [Page 924]social functions that it has evolved to serve or continues to serve in social life. Thus, structure and use are inseparable in textual analysis. The implication is that although textual analysis focuses on language use, it is anchored in the categories of language structure. In practice, this entails that meanings are interpreted on the basis of linguistic forms that are always considered functional, that is, capable of doing things.

The idea of viewing texts as having meaning potential, in turn, suggests two important simultaneous dimensions for textual analysis. First, because meanings are inscribed in grammar, textual analysis is attached to grammatical features, and it has to draw on grammatical knowledge. Second, because the focus of analysis is on interpreting meanings that are ascribed to particular uses of language (e.g., to a specific text), textual analysis is always pragmatic in nature. It addresses the meanings of Lexical or Grammatical Feature X in Context Y.

Textual analysis uses knowledge of language, and all levels of grammar are potentially informative in doing analysis. There are, however, linguistic structures and features that usually prove more important than others. Textual analysis can focus on a selected few linguistic features or on many features simultaneously.

Starting from a lexical level, the lexical meaning relations are important units of textual analysis. These relations inform the analyst about the ways in which the analyzed text relates to social structures as embedded in conceptualization. For example, identifying metaphors means identifying the conceptual relationship between metaphoric expressions and their source domain. Also, various part–whole relations and taxonomies are apt to shed light on meanings in text. In general, considering any word in a text as a lexical choice is often illuminating, because the choices lead to more general meaning potential and thus to discourses that exist prior to the text.

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