Love, war and lexicogrammar: Transitivity and characterisation in the Moor's Last Sigh

Summary

Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh (1995) is a zestful piling up of stories, “a final scandalous skein of shaggy‐dog yarns”, but in this diversity there is also thematic unity, brought about most forcefully through the character of Aurora, the narrator's mother ‐ “most sharp‐tongued woman of her generation” ‐ and through the counterpoint of her relationship with her husband, the shadowy Abraham. This paper examines transitivity patterns in certain passages of the novel, showing how these lexicogrammatical features underpin the perception that it is Aurora in particular, but other women too, who dominate the narrative ‐ and the men in their lives. More generally, the paper points out the value of transitivity analysis in explicating reader responses to characters in fiction.

Salman Rushdie se The Moor's Last Sigh (1995) is ‘n lewenslustige opeenstapeling van verhale, “a final scandalous skein of shaggy‐dog yarns”, maar in hierdie diversiteit is daar ook tematiese eenheid, wat op sy kragtigste deur die karakter Aurora, die verteller se moeder ‐ “most sharp‐tongued woman of her generation” ‐ teweeggebring word, en deur die kontrapunt van haar verhouding met haar man, die skaduweeagtige Abraham. Hierdie artikel ondersoek transitiwiteitspatrone in sekere passasies van die roman en dui aan hoe hierdie leksikogrammatiese kenmerke onderliggend is aan die persepsie dat dit Aurora in die besonder is, maar ook die ander vroue, wat die roman ‐ en die manlike karakters ‐ domineer. Op ‘n meer algemene vlak belig hierdie artikel die waarde van transitiwiteitsanalise in die eksplisitering van die leser se respons op karakters in fiksie.

Keywords:

• linguistic stylistics
• systemic functional grammar
• transitivity
• cline of dynamism
• Rushdie

Notes

1. This paper is a revised version of one delivered at the Poetics and Linguistics Association Conference at the University of Potchefstroom in March 1999.