Van Leeuwen - Representing Social Actions

8/12/2019 Van Leeuwen - Representing Social Actions

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()\ I ,olt I ) S'I'UDIES IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS( ilnt'litl Iililors:N rkol:rs ('ottrlltnrlArlrrnl .lirwor ski( t t r r I i.l.l I I tt i vu: ilt,lit'tt'rrlly I)rblislrcrl in tlrc Scrics:

Discourse and PracticeNew Tools for CriticalDiscourse Analysis

'litl|irr,q ultttl'l'rtttlntt'nl: Rectmntendations,for Rreasf Cancer ThgO Van LeeUWgnAtlj r r vt tr t l'l'n t I nt( n Il;clicir l). IlobcrtsLturguage in Time: The Rhytltm and Tempo of Spoken InteractionPeter Aucr, Elizabcth Kuhlen, Frank MllerWltales, Candlelight, and Sruff Like That: General Extendersin EngLislt DiscourseMaryann OverstreetA Place to Stand: Politics and Persuasion in a Working-Class BarJulie LindquistS o c io lingu ist c s Var iat io n : C ri it:al Il c.f a c t i t t t t.tEdited by Carmen FoughtPrescribittg under Prc.ssure: l\tn'nl-l'lt\,.si(iutt ('tttn','t.t,ttt,,tt.:and Antibiotics'lanya Stivcrs ()xt,'()t


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OXFORDIINIVI'ISITY PRESS()xlirtl []nivcrsity Press. Inc.. publishes works that fuflher( )x l(nd t inivcrsity's ohjective of excellencerr rcs(irch. scholarship. arrd educatron. TO JeSSe,orft,rrt Nerv york who has just experiencedArrcklrrrrl Capc 'lirwn Dar es Salaam lJong Kong KarachiKr;rtr t.urrpur Mcjrir Mctbourne Mexico Ciry Nairobi hiS fifSt day at SChOOINew I)cllri Sharrghai fuipei 'forontoWith olliccs tl^rrcnrinir Ausuir []rrzil Chile Czcch Republic France Greece(;u:rtcilrlir llungary Italy Japan P0land Ponugal SingaporcS(nrth K(rc Switzcrlard 'fhailaod Turkey Llknine Vietnnr('opyriglrt () 200tt iry Oxford Universiry Press, Inc.l'ublislrcrl by Oxford Universiry Press. lnc.198 Mdison Avenue. New York, New York 10016www.oup.contOxlord is a reeistererl trademrk of Oxford University l)rcssAll rights rescrved. No pan of this publicarion may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, io any fornr or by any mcans.electronic. meclranical. photocopying, recording, or otherwise.without the prior pernission of Oxford Universty press.l-ibmry of Conircss Catalogirrg in-Publication t)atl,eeuwcrr. 'l'hco van.I)iscorrrsc and prrclicc : new lools fbr critical discourse anrlysis /'[1co van l,ccuwen.p. cnr.-(Oxlirrd sludics in sociolinguistics)ISRN 97lJ'O'19-.532330,6r 97lJ 0-19-532i]3 t-3 (pbk.)l. (iitrcal rliscoursc rnrlysis. l. 'litlcr,102.r.413 200r{401 41 ik?? l(X)702:l(XX)

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I)r5( ( )LrRSt ANt) PRACI tCIirtttttigranls. ln otlrcr words, at home, one can easily single out the few deviant inrlivitluals wlro, unlikc "us," Australians, deserve the epithet "racist," and then turn thcn intothc notorious rcrsonifications of prejudice and bigotry which "we" all (and especiallythc rnctlia) lovc to llrlc. Abroad, on the other hand, racism is much more pervasivc.Anothcr grour ol-social actors who oppose or worry about immigrants and immi-gration is lirrnrctl by "us," the Australian people "as a whole." This group is moresympathctically rfctted-lcss olien backgrounded, less often referred to generically,and classificrl. il'at all, only as 'Australians." If they are activated, it is in relationto mcntal l)roccsscs, such as being "bewildered" and "not understanding," "feelingLnrhlc to corc." and so on, rather than in relation to material and verbal proccsses, asin llrc c rrsc ol thc "racists." And finally, they form a collective, which underlines theirsurrosctl c()nscnsus about imrnigration issues.'l lrt: inrrnigrants themselves I have referred to as "them," and "they" are rela-tivr'ly 'l.tcn blckgrounded and often referred to generically, which helps to distancetlrc r crulcr. lirln lhern. They are either assimilated or aggregated, and the aggregationslrelr to rcrlcscnt thcm as a large "horde" about to invade "us," and as the object of"rirrionul" calculation, rather than as fellow human beings. They are also representcdirbstllctly, and this, again, liequently involves the abstraction of their number. Morethrrn uny othcr category of'social actors, they are classified by their "ethnic origin,"r'lirss, nrcc, lcvel ol'education, wealth, and so on--differences which are not made inclrr(ion to "us," Australians. And immigrants from different ethnic origins are some-lirrtcs lurnrcd logethcr in what I have called "associations," to create further categoriesol'rrrigrant. Il'thcy are activated, finally, it is almost always in relation to one activity,tlrirt of'"inrrnigrating": in every other respect, they are acted upon by others.'l'hc govcrnrnent is rarely backgrounded or referred to generically, and it is oftenindividualiz.cd and nominated, that is, personified in the person of the prime minister.It also transccnds classification and is always lunctionalized and playing a highlyactivc role in relation to the immigrants. The social actors who form the exccutivcarrr ol'the government, however, those who must actually "stop" the immigrants, aresupplessed: the article keeps the reality of "cutting back immigration" at a comfort-able distance li'om the reader."Experts" are represented in two ways. Either they are treated like elite persons(highly activated, tunctionalized, individualized, nominated, and rirulated), or theirutterances are autonomized and/or collectivized, to imbue them with impersonalauthority and a sense of consensus among experts.The writer of the article also refers to himself and to his readers. The latter aleaddressed directly, the former makes "the fcts" speak in his stead. It is not the authorhimself, lbr instance, but "they" (i.e., "these dcvelopments") which "highlight the facrthat racism is seldom far below the surface." Whether or not the writer is also the socialactor who legitimizes the "fears" of "us," Australians, and "entitles" "us" (and PrimeMinistcr Hawke) to our f'eelings of pride, concern, etc., is not clear. Although thislcgitimizing social actor plays an important role in the process of immigration, refer-cncc [o hirn or her is always suppressed. Perhaps we are not too far fiom the truth aswc rccognize here, through traces in the text itself, the highly active role of the mediain this social process, despite the careful stance of neutrality suggested by the way inwhich most o[ the representation is attributed to sources other than the writer himself.

Representing Social Action

rln this chapter, originally written as a companion paper to the paper on wlriclrchapter 2 is based, I continue the analysis ol'the "Race Odyssey" tcxt, lbcusing, thistime, on social actions rather than on social actors, and asking thc qucstion "What arcthe ways in which social action can be representcd in English discourse?"i. lntroductionEven a short quote can bring out the critical relevance ofanalyzing thc rcprcscrttationol social action:

3.1 Many Australians, thc 1988 Fitzgerald Committee reported, werc "bcwildcrcd" bythe changing face of Australia today. They did not l'eel they understood or couldinfluence this change. They felt "bcsiegcd" by immigration.Three kinds of social action are represented here: the action of "immigrating," thereactions of "many Australians" to this action, and the "reporting" o1'these reactionsby "the 1988 Fitzgerald Committee." But they are notrepresentcd in the same way.The "reporting" of the committee and the reactions of Australians are reprcse nted asthe doings and f'eclings ol'specific social actors, as observable and tangible occur-rences. "lmmigration," on the othcr hand, is objectivated, reprcsented as a general-izcd and intangible "phenomenon" rather than as an action by specific social actorsand as the equally intangible, yet inescapable quasi-natural process ol'"changc." Atthe same time, it is also represcnted as affecting the Australian people, as "bewil-dcring" and "besicging" them. Thus immigration itself remains an unexamined and


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56 r)rs( ( )r lRSt AND PRACTtctuncxalnir)ablc given, while the reactions to it are represented in all of their specifics,as tlrough tlrcy should be our main focus of attention.l{cprcscntational choices such as these play a key role in the "Race Odyssey"tcxt. l'hcy firrm part clf a particular kind of racist discourse, a discourse based onl'car-l'crr ol' loss of livelihood and loss of cultural identity, fear of the unknownand unknowablc "othcr." But they also have very precise grammatical and rhetori-cul .culizutions: (hc rcactions of Australians are represented through active verbs1"rlrt:y lclt . "); thc actions of immigrants through nominalizations ("immigration");tlrt. relrlls ol'tllc comnrittce are represented through specific speech act verbs ("thel()llll lritzgcllld Curnrnittce reported..."); and the actions of immigrants are repre-serrrr:rl tlrnrrrgh abstractions ("change") and metaphors ("besiege"). In this chapter,I will hring thcsc two clcmcnts together. I will present a descriptive framework forclitically analyzing nrodcs of representing social action, using critical, socioseman-tic calcgorics such as "objcctivation," "naturalization," etc., but relating them to thespccific grarnrnatical and rhetorical realizations which can help to identify them intt:xts. In short, I am skctching the outline of a sociological "grammar" of the repre-scntation of social action-a systematic inventory of the ways in which action can bereprescntcd in English and their import in discourse.2. Reactions'l-he govcrnment officials, experts, "concerncd citizens," immigrants, and others fea-turcd in the "Race Odyssey" text are represented as involved, not only in actions, butalso in reactions. They have "legitimate fears" about immigration, feel "bewildered"and "besieged," express "concerns," and so on, and the question of who is repre-sented as reacting how to whom, or what, can be a revealing diagnostic for criticaldiscourse analysis. My corpus of "first day at school" texts contains many reactions.Chilclrcn's stories, for instance, not only try to make children comply with the rulesol'school but also, and above all, to like school, to feel happy in school. Texts aimedat parents, similarly, show parents not only what to do, but also what to feel ("don'tworry il'your child cries," "enjoy the time you now have to yourself," and so on).Sociological role theory recognizes this distinction. A role is not merely "a regu-latory pattcrn fbr extcrnally visible actions," it also carries with it "the emotions andatttu(fos th:rt hclong to these actions" (Berger, 1966:113). Role theorists see this asrcsulting rn()rc or lcss directly fiom perflorming the actions and leave the question ofpowcr ()ut ol'consitlcration. Berger cites the casc of the military officer: "With everysulutc trivcn rrntl ucccptcrl, our man is fortified in his new bearing. . . . He not only actslikc rrr r,llit'cr, lrc ltcls likc one" (1966: I l4). The children in "firstday" texts, on theollrt'r lr;rrrtl,:rrt'srrbjcctctl topower,andthetextsrellectanunderlyingconcernaboutwlrr'tlrr'r llrcy will rrrroliorrrrlly idcntily with their new role and with the institutionrn wlrt lr rl rs rlrryt'rlorl. le xts such as these do not attribute reactions equally to alll)utr( rl)iurts ('lilrlrt'n's lrooks tlwcll on the reactions of children, not on those ofl)iu('nt\;ur,l lr';r, lrt'rs 'li'xts rrtklcssing parcnts dwell on the reactions of parents andtlltlrllttt,ltol ott lltrrst ol lt';ttltt'ls,itntl sgtln.AsthepOwerOf SOCialaCtOfSdeCfeaSeS,llt';rnrorlrt rl r'nrltvr'lt':t liorrs;rllrillulctl to lhctn inercasgs.

RnRlsr NTrNC socrAL ACTtoN 57How arc rc:rcliorrs llrrrrrrurticrrlly rlistinct f}om actions? Halliday's transitivitythcory (1967- l96l{, l9l'1.5) providcs sornc clear criteria: "mental processes" are, inE,nglish, distinct lionr tlrc proccsscs that realizc actions ("material," "behavioral,"and "vcrbal" rloccsscs) in {irur ways. First, unlike material, behavioral, and verbalprocesscs, they cannot bc "probed" by means ofa "do" question (one can answer thcqucstion "What was hc doing?" with "Hc was washing up," but not with "He kncwthat she was coming"). Second, while material, behavioral, and verbal processcs

take the progressivc present, mental processes take the simple present (thus "l amthinking" would be an action, "I think of you" a reaction; some rcactions can havcbehavioral manifestations). Third, the "senser" of a mental process (the participantwhose mental process it is, who thinks, I'ears, desires, etc.) must be human or, moreprecisely, is treated as capable ofhuman mental processes by the vcry fact ofbeing"senser" in a mental process: pets may be representcd as "scnsers," for instance.Finally, the "phenomenon" (the object of the mental process, that which is thought,fearcd, desired, etc.) can be realized by a clause as well as by a nominal group (onecan say "l knew he was coming" as well as "I knew him," lbr instance).However, these criteria are not always suff icient for the identification of actionsand reactions in actual texts, because they are bound up with the grammar of theclause, and l'ail to provide recognition criteria tbr actions and reactions realizedat other linguistic levcls, lbr instance, by elements o[ thc nominal group, as with"unwanted" in example 3.2 and "tolerancc" in cxample 3.3, or across two clauses,as in example 3.4:

3.2 Australiais...indangerofsadcllingitsclfwithalotofunwantedproblems.3.3 Racial tolerance is wearing thin.3.4 They were just a Iittle nervous. Would the teacher be strict?Also, many reactions are not realized dynamically, by "rncntal process" clausessuch as "they l'eared...," but statically, by descriptive clauses such as "they wereafraid. . . " In other words, the grammatical catcgory "mental process" docs not l'ullyoverlap with the sociosemantic category "rcaction." As already discussod in the pro-vious chaptcr, Halliday deals with this problom through his theory of'grammatical'netaphor (1985: ch. l0): thc sociosemantic concept "mental process" is said to berealizcd literally (or "congrucntly") when it is realized by thc grammatical category"mcntal process" and mel.aphorically when it is realized in other ways, for instance,by a static descriptive clause. Thus, "I fear you" would be litcral, "I am afraid ofyou" metaphorical. The two are difl'ercnt, of course, but I would prefer not to plivi-lege one over the other as somehow more congrucnt with reality, or otherwise morebasic. They artl two dilferent ways ol'reprcscnting reactions, embodying two differ-ent views of what reactions are, both cqually metaphorical or cqually literal: "Meta-phors are not things to be seen bcyond. Onc can scc bcyontl thcrn only by using othermetaphors" (LakolTand Johnson, l9lt0: 239). 'fhc point is to inve ntorize the dif'ferentmetaphors available for rcprcscnting rcaction, insofar as thcy arc critically nontrivialand can be coupled with distinct lcxicogrammatical rcalizations.Reactions cantte unspeciferl, through verbs likc "rcact" and "respond" and theirrelated nouns, adjectivos, and advcr-bs, or stecifted as particular tyrcs of'rcrcti()n,


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I rt r I )L t " ^.]l, l'li^( |l( I,rr,l r(, rr.r( ( \\lr( lr lyrt's ol rclction rrc, in a given discourse, attributcd to which..r,r r.rl ,r( t.r\ (:rn,;ulrrirr. lrt'rcvclrling. Somc discourses, forexample, in the field ol'.rrlrt'tr.,nl', r('l)r('s( nt tlrc lrt:llrvior ol'thc "consumer" (the "voter," thc "audicncc,"r't( );t., |lr( (l.rrrrrrrrrtly rrolivirlctl hy alicctivc reactions, by desires, needs, and wants.llrc rr';rr tr'n\ \\'lu( lr :ulvt'rliscls, [)lanncrs of'campaigns, etc., attribute to themsclves,.r tlrt' orlrcr lr;rr,1. :rrr' rrrorc likcly to hc cognitive and rational: again, the greater therorvr't ,rl ,,o( r:rl :r( t()rs, tlt: nlorc likcly it is that cognitive, rather than all'ective, r'eac-Irorrs rvrll lrr' :rllr rlrult'tl l() lltctll.ll,rllrtl.ry tlrstirrgrrislrcs lllrcc types ol'reaction, again on the basis of grarnmaticalr lrrr'lr,r lrr torrtlrsl tr,t col4ttitive and perceptiv mental processes, ffictive mentzrllr ( )( ( ,.,,( ., r :rr t;rkc "rnrposals" as thcir ob.iect, that is, they can combine with pert'ec-rr\ ( n, )rlunt(' t lrrtse s with "to," as in example 3.5, and infinitive or impcrfbctive non-IrrrrL r l;rurt s witlr thc ing participle, as in cxample 3.6 (cf. Halliday, I985: 23511'.):

{ ', A rurrrlrt'r.ol critics want to see our intakc halved to 70,000 to 80,000.{ r, lr,l:rr1, K:rlc likcd bcing the last name on thc register.

li rr r'l)tr\,( rrrt'ntlrl rroccsscs are distinct in being ablc to take another kind of nonfi-rurr r r,nsrrrrttion, {llc "accusative cum infinitivo," as in 3.7, or its "progfessive" ver-,.r.r. ;r\ rr i l{ (cl'. Matthicssen, 1992: 108):l. / | lrcrrd lrirn walk away.'I X I llr:lrrrl hirl walkins away.

('ol'nitivt: rncntal pl'ocesses can take "propositions" as their object, "that" clauses (inrvlut lr "tlrirt" rnay bc clided), as in 3.9 (cl'. Halliday, 1985: 235fL):t () llo lthc prirnc ministcrl thinks our current intake is about right.

liirrrrlly, ccrtain key perceptive verbs, such as "sce" and "perceive," and certain atl'ec-tive vclbs, such as "l'eel" and "fear," can act as cognitive processes and take "proposi-tiorrs" as the il obicct, as in 3.10:

l. I0 l'hcy did not f'eel they understood ol could influence this changc.'I lris introcluces a ditbrent interpretation of the cognitive process, and a dilfbrentglourrtling firr the knowledge expressed, lending it a pcrceptive flavor, in which "scc-ing" bccomes like "knowing," or an aff'ective flavor, in which the diflbrcnce bctwecn"l'ccling" and "thinking" is diminished, so that "f'eelings" can suppolt "propositions."Othcr dimcnsions of the representation of reactions, such as the dillbrcnce bclwce n"l l'car..." and "I am afl'aid..." (between what, below, will be called "activltion"and "descriptivization"), can also apply to actions and will bc discusscrl in lrtc.sections.Applying this liamework to an analysis of the "Race Odysscy" tcxl, wc c:ulobselve, first of all, that thc text contains I | 3 representations of acti()ns (73 rcrcenl )and 42 representations ofreactions (27 percent): reactions clcarly play r sigrrilit'rurl

RTPRISiNTINC SOCIAL ACTION 59rolc in tllc wly irrrrrriglation is rcprcsentcd hcrc. The vast majority of these reactionsis attributccl to "Arstralians" (-52 percent) and their government (21 percent) and tothose who rrc "conccrncd about" or "resentful of'' immigrants in other countries ( I 9pcrccnt). 'l'he reactions ol'immigrants, on the other hand, are not represented. Immi-grants only provoke reactions. Their thoughts and feelings and observations are notconsidered relevant. The tcxt is squarely written from the point of view of those whohave, or aspire to have, the power to regulate the "intake" of migrants, to "cut" it,"halve" it, and so on-even though the text also tells us that 40 percent of Australianswere either born ovcrscas or havc at least one parent who was.There is a distinct pattern also in thc distribution of the different types of reac-tions. Anti-immigration reactions in countries other than Australia are for the mostpart atfbctive, cmotional, unreasonable. Anti-immigration reactions within Austra-lia, on the other hand, are as often cognitive ("believe," "consider," "think," ctc.):rsall'cctivc (although scnc of the cognitive reactions have an affective "llavor"): thc"legitimate l'cars" of Australians are not portrayed as irrational f cars, but ns r((t\()ttable l'ears, emotions checkcd and held in balance by rational considcrltions, lhisin contrast to tlrc crnotions of the true "racists" in other countrics. "llcsclltrttcnl"is reserved lbr Bruce Roxton. the racist the Australian media love to halc, tts tlrt:exccption to the rule that Australians are not racist and have only rcasonablc untlundelstandablc "conccrns" about immigration. The Australian Sovernmcnl's rcac-tions, finally, are lirr thc most part cognitive, and the affective reactions attributcd t()it are positivc ("hopc, "bc disposed to"), this despite the fact that the article criticiz.csthe governmcnt's immigration policy and in keeping with the general pattcrn in thcmedia that "cmotivcncss" dccrcases as status and power increase.3. Material and Semiotic ActionSocial action can be interprered as mctterial or semiotic, as "doin8" or as "meaning,"in other words, as action which has, at least potentially, a material purpose or ell'cctor as action which does not. Examples 3. I I and 3.12, for instance, represent the samestage in the "first day" scenario, the child's rebellion against entering sclrool for thchlst time, but where 3.1I "materializes" it,3.l2 "semioticizes" it:

3.1 I Darrcn lcsistcd thc teachcr's attempts to settle him.3.I 2 "We don't want to sit down." said Masnus. "We want to go outsidc."'l'he same contrast can be observed in these two versions of a speech act byNclson Mandcla, both liom the Times (7 February 1994): in 3.13, it is material-iz.cd, rcprcscntcd as action ("attacks"), in 3.14 semioticized, represented as meaning

( "tlcscribcd"):l. l l'l'hc ruling National Party has urged Mr. Mandela to end his attacks on President deKlcrk..l l4 Mr.MandeladescribedthePresidentasaweaklingwhohadnotraisedawordofpro-lcst against right-wing attacks on ANC offices and carcd nothing for black lives.


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()0 I)I5('O(JRSI AND PRACTICIAgain, thc point is not that one is metaphorical and the other literal, but that the same actionis rcprcscntcd in two different ways, each conveying a distinct attitude toward, and interpre-tation ol, the action; the one equating the power ofwords and deeds, the otherdistinguishingbctween the semiotic act of "describing" and the material act of "attacking ANC offices."The distinction between material and semiotic action can be related to specific gram-matical rcaliz-ations (see Halliday, 1985: ch. 5). "Verbal processes" occupy an intermediateposition betwccn material and mental processes, between actions and reactions. On theonc lranrl, thcy rescmble doings (one can answer the question "What did she do?" with"Shc is saying hcr prayers"). On thc other hand, they resemble cognitive mental processes,irr tlrat tlrcy can takc a "proposition" as their object, which is not the case with materiall)r(xrcsscs (onc cannot say "Mr. Mandela attacked that the president was a weakling").Matcrial actions can bc transactive or nontransactive. The former involve two par-ticipants, thc "actor," the "one who does the deed," and the "goal," "the one to whichthe proccss is extended" (Halliday, 1985: 102-5). The goal, according to Halliday, mustbe a "thing," that is, "a phenomenon of our experience, including, of course, our innerexperience or imagination-some entity (person, creature, object, institution or abstrac-tion); or some process (action, event, quality, state or relation)" (1985: 108). Nontrans-active actions involve only one participant, the "actor," who in thc case of "behavioralprocesses," must be human. This distinction is not just a neutral, grammatical one. Itdistinguishes also between actions which have an effect on others, or on the world, andactions which do not. In "first day" texts, lbr instance, children's actions are mostlynontransactive: children are rarely represented as having an effect on the world. Theymay play, run around, whine, cry, draw, or sing, but who they are running to or playingwith, what their whining and crying achieves, or what it is they draw or sing about, isnot represented, at least not in "first day" texts aimed at adults. Children's actions arcportraycd here as mere behavior, without content, purpose, or effect, and this is not soin thc case of teachers, whose actions are almost invariably represented as affecting thcchildre n in their care. The actions of migrants in the "Race Odyssey" text also tend tobc nontransactive: they "immigrate," "anive," constitute a "mere trickle" or "an influx,"rnrl so orr. Clcarly, the ability to "transact" requires a certain poweE and the greater thatpowcr, thc grcater the range of"goals" that may be alTected by an actor's actions.llallidly's description of the "goal" of a material process is very broad, and itrnrry bc cliticllly rclcvant to distinguish bctween transactions with things and trans-Irclions witlr pcoplc. Grammatically, "material processes" may treat both as "things."('r'iticrrlly, it is irnportant to distinguish between actions which affect people and;rt'liorrs wlriclr allcct other kinds of "things." I will refer to the former as interactive;rrrf fo tlrt' lirtlcr rs instntrnental transactions. In the case of interaction, the actionrs rt'lt lt'tl lo lry nrclns oia verb which can only take a human goal, as with "hug"rr \.15 :rrrtl "tlt:ny cntly" in 3.16; if the goals of such verbs are not human, thcyt;rrr rrsu:rlly lrt' irrtr:rrrctcd as metonymical displacements (as when someone "kissesllrt'I'rorrrrrl" ort wlit'l s()rnc()nc else has stood), instrumentalizations of social actors(r'1' rr ( \l)r('ssr()rrs likc "thc bullet killed him"), or projections of human socialllr:r{ tr{ r.., orrto tlu'lrt'll:rviol ol'lrninrals, plants, and even inanimate matter:

I l " l\'1,I v l\.ttr' t:It to lr[l ;rrrl lrrrgl',ul hcr.IIr, I'r.r'trlr'('l ,\.,t,rn(l(.\r('ilt .ll:rvt'ltt.t'nrl|tnicdentrvtoelegantrestaurants.

RTPRTSENTINC SOCIAL ACTIONln ittstrumrntul transactions, the goal may be either human or nonhuman. Inothcr worcls, instrunrcntal transactions represcnt people as interchangeablc withob.iects, lirr instance, through verbs like "use," "transport," "destroy," "carry," etc.Not surprisingly, instrumentalizations are common in texts which are to some degrccbureaucratized (as with "make use of other children" in 3.17) and less common, lir.instance, in stories (cf. 3.18), whcre the transaction might, literally and figurarivcly.be rcpresented as interactive, dialogic:

3.17 Make use of other children to help him get dressed or usc scissors.3.18 "Susan," called Miss Laurie, "show Marv Kate the doll's housc and all the othcrthings."The same distinctions apply to semiotic action. Semiotic action can be transactive (asin "she addressed him") or not (as in "she spoke fbr an hour"). Again, the actions oflower-status actors are more often represented as nontransactive:

3. I 9 When she woke up the children were singing.The instrumentalization of scmiotic transactions is rcalized through verbs ol-

"exchange" and "transport," e.g., "give," "offer," "receivc," "providc," "supply," "con-vey," "put across," usually together with some kind of specification of the kind ofspeech act involved (e.g., "information" in 3.20) and possibly also of the contcnrconveyed by the semiotic action (e.g., "about new entrants," also in 3.20):3.20 More than half of our samole schools received information about new cntrants lhrrthe preschools.

But semiotic action can involve an additional dimension, the very dimension whichmakes it semiotic: it can convey meanings. When semiotic action s behavioraliz.ed,this dimension is not represented, and semiotic action is treated as similar to othorforms ofaction, divested ofits ability to reach beyond the here and now ofthe corn-munication situation, its ability to represent the "then" and the "there," to rememberlhe past and imagine rhe future.When semiotic action is not behavioralized, the meanings conveyed bythe semiotic action are also represented, resulting in embedded representation,representatiot-within-the-representation. This embedding can take a number offorms. It can take the form of the quote, in which case it includes not only rhemeanings conveyed by represented social actors but also their wordings. In textslike "Race Odyssey," this is typically reserved for high-status actors (3.21) or usedto enhancc thc credibility of an embedded representation. When there is a choicebctwccn quoting or not qu()ting, quoting may imply something like "l could nothavc sairl it bcttcr rnyscll'" rr "No lrther comment or interpretation is needed" as,rcrllrps, in f .22:

.1.21 "l lrrrx.thrrt :rswt'lrorr,"lrt. ll,rirrrcMinistcrllawkcl saidrecently,"thatwemaybeIrblt' lo look lrt lrirlrrr lt.vt.ls ol irrrrnignttion."


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()r (.r( f f ()n lor tlrc ircliort or rcaction itself (as with "about the day ahead" in 3.29);by.slttttittli..tttiutt, tlrc substitution of a place associated with an action or reaction lbr therut t ion or rclrctiorr itscll' (as with "school" in 3.30); or by various forms of'prolepsls,Ior instrrrcc, tlrc suhstitution of the product of an action or reaction fbr the action orrcrclion itscll'(ls wilh "no parting tears" in 3.3 l):

.i.29 'l'hc lirnrily can talk calmly and happily about the day ahead.

.1..10 School isjust about to begin.

.l-3 | I sw no parting tears.'l-his docs not cxhaust the possibilities. Another form of displacement, commonin "psychological" fiction, is the displacement of reactions onto the weather, as in thclollowing quote fiom a detective novel by Georges Simenon (1979: I I l), where thefirst clause objectivates the reaction of the hero, and the second the hero himself', bysubstituting "the rain" for the hero, as "senser" ofa (descriptivized) mental process:

3.32 lt was still raining the following day. The rain was sofi, cheelless and hopcless, likea widow's tears.

When an action or reaction is objectivated, the representation downgrades it in orderto givc priority to something else. In procedural texts, for example, priority mightbe givcn to secuencing, as in 3.33, or to signaling whether an action or reaction isoptional or obligatory (or something in between: "helpful," "advisablc," "dcsirable,"ctc.) as in 3.34:l.l3 l'reparation firr thc first day at school should start early.3.34 Mccting the teacher is also important.

ln lcxls wlriclr.juxtaposc scveral representations of the samc practice, priority mightbc givcrr to rnrxlality:1. l5 lt worrlrl sccr)l lhll il is logistically possible to include mothers in the classroom.Vt'ry licttrcrrtly, ltowcvcr, obicctivation scrvos to add purposes and/or legitirnutions

f() llrc rcl)r'(rscnlalion. Ilctc is an cxarrtplc lioln Illich's Deschooling Society (1973: 5l):1 {(r Alit'l:rtior wlrs u dircct conse(lucncc ol'wage labour which deplived man of theorxrrtrlrity l() ('r(:tlc and recrcate. Now young people are pre-alienated by schoolstlrrl isol:rlc tltcnr whilc thcy pretcnd to be both producers and consumers ol'theirowrr LrrowlerlLlc, which is conceived of as a commodity put on the markct in

st llrtll'llrt. lrsr t l:rrrst'ol tlris cxccrpt contains two objectivations: "alienation" and "wagcl;rlrour " l lrlrt olrt'r'livirtions allow the two actions ("working fbr a wage" and "alien-;rtilrll') to lx' lilrkt'tl lo crcll othcr by a causal pfocess ("was a direct conscqucnceol ") llrrs. tlrt' nt'l';rlive connotation of'"alienation" can transf'er to "working filr a

RI PRI STNTINC SOCIAL AC IIO\ 65wagc" anil, by rrrcans ol'an irnplicit comparison, also to schooling, Illich's main topic.In othcr wortls, verbs dcnoting logical relations can link objectivated actions toeach other in order to evaluate and thereby legitimize or delegitimize them. In textslike Illich's Deschooling Society, legitimation and delegitimation are in fact theovcffiding concern, and lepresenting the social actions involved in "schooling" takesa back seat. However, legitimation and delegitimation cannot stand on their own.They must be related to a representation of the actions and reactions which thcylegitimate or dclegitimate, however reduced, generalized, and abstract this represen-tation may be.Objectivation also allows social actions to be classified, labeled. The objecti-vatcd action or reaction then premodifies another objectivation which abstracts anaspect or quality liom that action, for instance, its "ritual" or "fbrmal" or "strategic"nature:

3.37 Entry procedures are largely a malter for the head teacher to decide.3.38 Local education authorities vary in their admission policies.3.39 Childrenlearnmostof whattheirteacherspretendtoteachthemfrom...merepar-ticipation in the ritual of school.This, too, can play a role in the realization of legitimation. To call an action or set ofactions a "ritual," lbr instance, delegitimizes itlthem, bringing negative connotationsof "emptiness" and "hollowness" to bear on the action of "schooling."Actions and reactions can also be descriptivized,fhat is, they can be representedas more or less permanent qualities of social actors (as, for example, with "smiling"in example 3.40 and "specially trained" in example 3.41) or of other elements of therepresented practice, e .g., the props required for its enactment, as wilh "her favoritevidco" in 3.42:

3.40 A snriling teacher met them at the door.3.41 A spccially trained squad of teachers will go into homes to show parents how toprcparc their children fbr formal education..1.42 Aquictwayofcclcbratingherfirstdayatschool mightbeaviewingofherfavoritevidco.

Ileactions arc of'te n dcscrintivized in this wav:3.43 ls...this nation... irlpcrvious to racist sentiment?3.44 Wc arc cnli(lctl to bc proud. . . about our immigration program.

Descriptivizrrtirrn c:ur lx' crrlizctl by cpithets, as in 3.40, 3.41, and 3.42, or by theattributcs ol'rlt:sc'rirtivc r'lrnrscs rs, lirr instance, in 3.43 and3.44.In thc "lt:cc ( )rlysscy" tt'xt, only -53 pcrccnt of actions and reactions are acti-vatccl. Iltt llrc iun()unl ol tlt':rclivirlion is nol constant throughout the text. In the firsttwclvc lilrt:s, tlrt'st't lron wlriclr tlt:;rls with tllc bchaviorof the "racists" in othercoun-trics, ucliv:rtion is nrut lr rrrort' lrt'trre rrl (74 pcrcent). The actions and reactions ofllrcsc "r'it'isls" ;rrt' r:rrt'ly rlt lrt livlrlctl: irr lil perccnt ofcases, they are placed squarely


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66 I)Is(]OIJRSI AND PRACTICEin tlrc lirrcground of'the text. The actions of the writer of the article and of the variouscxl)crfs wlrosc rcports and surveys are quoted are also predominantly activated."Wc," Australians, are activated in 54 percent of cases. Objectivation occursnrostly in rclalion to actions and reactions that could be interpreted negatively: "fear,""disharrnony," "tlislocalion," and so on. Descriptivizations, which represent actionsrur rerctions its rn()rc or less permanent qualities of social actors, occur most oftenin relation to rclativcly positive reactions (see 3.43 and 3.44 above, for instance).Activation is tlrus used to foreground the rational and nonracist nature ofAustralians'conccrns about inrmigration ("believe," "think," "feel") and to background their basisin ltclings ol'insecurity and fear.'f 'lrc rrctions and reactions of the Australian government are activated in 44 per-t'cnr ol clscs, rnainly in relation to semiotic actions ("say") and reactions ("think,""bclicvc," "lropc"). The government's material actions, on the other hand, the actionswlritlr nratcrially affect migrants ("program," "cut," "stop," etc.) are objectivated,lrrrt'kiroundcd. As in the case of "us," Australians, descriptivization is used in rela-liorr lo xrsitivc rcactions ("is confident," "is disposed to high migration").Lclst ofien activated, and hence most backgrounded, are the actions of thenri'.r'rrnls llrcmsclvcs. They are activated in only 20 percent of cases, mostly in thcf irsr rwt:lvc lincs, that is, in their interactions with "racists" in othercountrics, wheretlrcy "tr:ll lics," "prcss for the right to have Mounties in turbans," "bring bulgingwrrllcts," ctc. A l'cw of thc deactivations descriptivize their actions, represent their:rt'liolrs lrs nlorc or lcss pcrmanent characteristics-negative ones: they "are usersol wt:ll:rrc," "havc high unemployment rates." But most of the deactivations areolrjccliv:rtions of'that onc crucial action, rcpresented in all of its generality: "immi-gnrtion."5. DeagentializationActions and reactions can be agentialized, represented as brought about by humanagency, or deagentialized, represented as brought about in other ways, imperviousto human agency-through natural forces, unconscious processcs, and so on. I willdistinguish three types of deagentialization: eventuation, existentalization, andnaturalization.In the case of eventuation, an action or reaction is represented as an event, assomething that just "happens," without the involvement of human agency. The ques-tion "by whom?" cannot relevantly be asked in connection to it. One of the ways inwhich this may be realized is through a material proccss denoting involuntary action,as in the case of "lose" in this examole:

3.45 Parents lose key role in policy making.Many such processes have an inherently passive sense (e.g., "undergo," "cxpcricncc,""suf1'er"), even though, grammatically, they are active:

3.46 They receivcd a sudden cold-shoulder from neighbours and co-workcrs.

Rt PRt st N l rNc socr^l Aclo\ 67Anothcr possible realization combines objcctivation with generalized proccsses suclras "happen" or occur":

3.47 Such palicipation does not seem to happen at senior school.3.48 Signs of fatigue occurred regardless of preschool experience.Many of the things we might ordinarily think of as events can also be representcd lsactions, and vice versa. Compare, for instance, the following two examples;

3.49 Cohenfoundthat,atthebcginningofthetrial,thesubjects'eyeswerefixitedatthccenter of the screen. When a small object was presented at thc left or thc right ol tl)('screen, subjects moved their eyes to read this digit.3.50 When an object begins to move across the field of view, the eyes will begin [o n)(]v('after it after a time interval of about 0. I 5 seconds.

Example 3.49, an extract from a scientific paper, represents human action ("r srnallobject was presented") and their actor ("Cohen"). Example 3.50, an extract ll'()rn rnintroductory textbook, represents an event (the "object moves") and removcs lhctraces of the human experimenter/observer without whose actions, in thc cnd, norepresentation of natural events is possible.Conversely, human social practices can serve as a model for representing naturllevents. Susan Sontag (1979: 64) has pointed out how the representation ofcanccr rsfrequently modeled on military practices:Cancer cells do not simply multiply, they are "invasive."... They "colonize" liom thcoriginal tumor to far sites in the body, first sctting up tiny outposts ("metastases").

And, as Freud (1975 [901]: 221) has shown, what most of us think of as chanccaccidents can also be represented as brought about by human agency:[Bungled actions] prove to be govemed by an intention and achieve their aimswith a certainty which cannot in general be credited to our conscious voluntarymovements.

The English language provides resources for representing proccsses as eithcractions or events. But it cannot dctermine which phenomena should be intelpretedas actions and which as events. The same occurrences can readily be representedeither as actions or as events, either as voluntary ("the subjects moved their cyes")or as involuntary ("the eye moves"). Both options are, in principle, always open.Contextual, not ontological, factors dccide which is taken up in any given instance.This is why I use "transformational" terms in both cases, fbr agentialization andlirr eventuation.In the case of existentialization, an action or rcaction is represented as somcthingthal "simply exists." The action or reaction itsell'is objectivated and fills the slot ofthc "cxistcnt" (thc entity predicated to exist) in "existential clauses," clauses whichrrsscrt lhc cxistcncc of somcthing and frequently begin with "there" ("there is...,"


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l)r'|J( ( )l rli"l ANI) I'RA( TICE"lhclcexisls.."; llllliday, 1985:130),asin3.5 l.Altcrnatively,existentializationislcrrf izctl irr olr.jccf ivalcd ways, e.9., through nominalizations like "existence" 3.52:

-1.51 'l'hcy bclicvcd that the immigration program existed for the benefit of politicians,btrrcaucrats, and the ethnic minorities..1.52 l'he vcry existencc of obligatory schools divides any society in two realms.ln thc crsc of naturaLizatior?, an acton or reaction is represented as a natural pro-ccss by mcans of abstract material processes, such as "vary," "expend," "develop,"ctc., which link actions and reactions to specific interpretations of material pro-ccsscs-to discourses of rise and fall, ebb and flood; of birth and death, growthand decay; ol'change and development and evolution; of fusion and disintegration,expansion and contraction:

3.53 Tolcrance is wearing thin.3.54 All that is changing.Again, objectivated naturalizations are common. The following example com-bincs existcntialization ("a change is coming") with an objectivated naturalization("changcs"):

3.5-5 With thcse changes is coming a change in community attitudes.Naturalization is the most common form of deagentialization in the "RaceOdysscy" tcxt, and thc writer uses it to give his predictions an air of inevitability:racisrn is 'tlcvcloping," "dcbatcs" arc "building," and, the most frequent naturaliza-tion, "changcs" arc "coming."

(r. ( icrrcr;rliziltion iln(J AbstractionI)if li'r'crrt rt'rrcst:rrlirlions rn:'y 4eneralir actions and reactions to different degrees.WIrrrt in l -5(r is lcrrclllizctl ("rrrilk timc"), for instancc, is in 3.57 broken down intoscve rirl nrort'srt'cilic irctions ("gutlrcring on thc rug," "naming a color," "fetching therri lk" )

i\lr Mrlktirt'istrcrrlt'tl :rslsrccificcvcnl.insomcclassesandpassesalmostunnoticedrr ollrcr st 5 / 'l lr' wlrolt' t lrrss is grrlhcrcrl on thc rug. The teacher names a color and children who.rrt rvr':rrrrrr', rt lt'lr'lr llrt:ir lttilk.llrkrn' tlrt' trvo t'r:rrrrrlt's loictlrcr,Onc could construct a taxonomy (table 3.1). Butrl rvorhl lr' :r lirrorrorrry ol ir rcculial kind. In most taxonomical diagrams, the terms;rt tlrr. l,rvcr rr,rrlt's rvorrLl lr:rvc lo bc rcatl as subordinate: "gathering on the rug," forcr:rrrrrlr',rvoultl lr:rvt tolx'rt'url lrs"r kintl of'rnilktime."Here,however,"milktime"

nrilk timeRTPRESENTINC SOCIAL ACTION 69

gathenng on thc rug n naming a color n fetching milkrllE 3.1. Temporal Composition Taxonomy

generalizes a sequence (this is indicated by the carets in the diagram). The diagrarncan also be seen as a meronymical or "composition" taxonomy in the sense of Mar-tin ct al. (1988: 149) exccpt that "composition" is here temporal rather than spatial."Gathering on the rug," "naming a color," and "fctching the milk" are parts of (mero-nyms of) "milk time." Such temporal composition taxonomics can bring out howthc micro-actions which would make up "fetching thc milk" (gctting up liom therug, walking to the table where the milk is displayed, etc.) constitute "actions," howactions constitute action sequenccs or "episcldes," and how sequences of episodesconstitute "practices" (cf. Barthes, 1977: l00fT.). But it is difficult to provide linguis-tic criteria fbr recognizing the level of gencrality of isolatcd actions such as "gathcr-ing on the rug." Generalizations become apparent only in an analysis of the semanticrelations between difl'erent representations of the same actions and reactions withinone text (in which case, it is possible to reconstruct the action taxonomies inhcrent inthat text) or in comparing texts, as I have done informally in this section. Generaliza-tion is neveltheless an important issue in critical discourse analysis, as texts whichare mainly concerned with legitimizing or delegitimizing actions and reactions tendto move high up on thc generalization scale, including only the names of episodes orof whole social practices.Gcneralization can be seen as a form ofabstraction; they abstract away from themore specific micro-actions that make up actions. Othcr forms of abstraction abstractqualities from actions or reactions. Example 3.58, for instance, abstracts away fromthe substance of what parents actually do when they "interact" with teachers, sug-gesting perhaps that it is not important what hey do, so long as they are socn to"interact with," "relate to," "be involved with" the school. This kind of absrractionI will refer ro as distilLation:

3.58 Your interaction with teachers throughout school life can have a very positive effecton your child's attitudes.Example 3.59, again takcn from Illich (1971: 338), abstracts away from whar reach-ers do in order to concentrate on their agentive power:

3..59 The teacher cxcrciscs a kind of power over their person which is much less Iim-ited by conslitution:rl and consuetudinal rcstrictions than the powerwielded by thegualdians ol' tf lrcr social cnclavcs.Theso distillaliors nol orrly higlrlight sonlc aspecl of an action at the cxpense ofotlrcrs, lhcy ulso rt::rlizt'l)rtrlx)s(:ri lrrrtl lcgitirnations: purposcs through the kinds ofrualitics lrighliglrtt'rl (rlrt. rrrrxrst's ol'soliciting thc complicity of parenl.s with thc


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7O r)r\( ( )l rRsl AND PRAclcEschool systcnr and o1'controlling children, fbr instance) and legitimations ancl dclc-gitirrurtrons llrrough the evaluative associations which, in thc given context, maycling t() thc tcn)ls that establish the refelence to the action or reaction. "Involvenrcnt,""intcrrction," and so on have positive connotations in discourses ol'counseling andthcrapy, wlrilc powcr may evoke negative connotations, certainly in the context ol'llliclr's /)cslooling Society, which argues lbr returning some power to the clientsof cducatiorrrrl ploltssionals. Since the same qualities can be distilled from a hetero-gencous varicty ol'social practices, distillation also allows practices to be comparedand classified along the dimensions of cuality highlighted by the distillation. Fieldsof'socirrl rlirctice in which thc same kinds of purposes and the same kinds of valucsrrul tlisvrrlultions obtain can thus be demarcatcd. And such fields are scrved by thernstilrtions whose (theorctical) practices ofdistillation elaborate thesc purposes andvrrlrcs: intlivitlual psychologies in the case of "interaction," "involvement," etc.;criti-c:rl socioloqics in thc casc of"'power," "control," etc. Such discourses teach us to seetlrt' turrlitics in a hctclogcnoous variety ol'social practices and supply the legitima-lions rntl l)ur.lxlscs that support thcsc practiccs-or the delegitimations that allowIlrr'il t'r'ilirttc.Sorrc ol'tllc lnotlcls ol'rcprcscnling actions and reactions that we have alrcadyrlisr'rrsst'rl rrlso irvolvc lrbstraction. 'l'lrc lirllowing combination of objectivation;rrl t'vt'llturrlion. liu inslirnce . higlrliglrts tllc "ccromonial" quality ol'the activity ol'":rsst'rrrlrl' irr tlrt' lr:rll":

t (l) l lris (('r( rnor)y is tlt'sirlncrl to lr:lr thc child ltcl she now bclongs to thc school.'llrt'rt: is;rlso i nrt:lulrngrrislic lirrrrr ol'tlrslillatron: thc distillation of eithcr thc signi-fit:, rs in .l-(r|, ol tlrc sigrrilictl, rs in .1.(2:

-1.61 'l'hc rrotiorr ol'rllytirnc rcprcscnts a lna.jor discontinuity in the cxperience ol'rnostchildren starting school.3.62 The telm physical education refers to that period of physical activity when the chil-dren use spccific apparatus and movements to promote muscular coordination andagility.

Distillations in the "Race Odyssey" tcxt include "backlash," "l'reeze out,""bcsiege," "disharrnony"-all distilling the negative aspect of actions the prcciscnature of which we can fbr the most part only gucss.7. OverdetermlnatonIn chapter 2, I characterized the symbolic representation ol'socil ilclors rs ovcrdetermination-as a form of representation in which the replescntcrl social rrt'torscan rel'er to actual social actors in more than one social practicc.'l'lrrs, lllc kirri ofthe lairy tale can stand fbr the father, the company director, or tlrc rolrlic:rl lt'irtle r,and the tcam ol'"prof'essional heroes" in wcstcrns (Wrighl, l()75) lirr tlrt' tcrrrrr ol


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', Il r rrlr',t /\t.I) I'liA( |l( Il,r rr',,nrr r ri, nr)v(' to tlrt' village of their husbands after marriage ("patrilocalnr.ur,rt,( ). lrut rn "llrt'Slotyol-Asdiwal,"theoppositeoccurs:thehero,Asdiwal,nr.\'r'.. r(, rlr rrll:r1't'ol lris wilc aftcr marriagc ("uxorilocal maniage"). Myths,s:rys l.t'r,r lirr;rrr.r { l')(r/. I l), "tkr not give accurate picture[s] of the reality ofnllrvr'lrlr'. lrrrt r,,ort ol cortttlt:rlttint wlrich seems sometimes to be in harmonywtllt tlt(' rc:rlrty, rrrrtl \()nr('lln('s lo t:rrt l}om it." The reason for inversion of thiskintl lrt's rr tlr(' l(',trtrnrlrrtl'. luttt'liotr ol'tltc nlyth. "The Story of Asdiwal" seeksIo lclirlirrrrzt' tlr('( nst()rrr ol r:rlliloc:rl ltrrrriagc: thc hero's deviant actions lead to:r crisis wlriclr rs rrol rt'solvt'tl unlil otlcl is rcstorcd and the hero lives again in thevilllrlc ol llts lirtlrcr: "('xtr ( nr(' Irirsrtr(lrrs lrre irn:rgirted in order to show that they aretrtlt:tt:rlrlc" (lritl.: 10).(iorrrrulrrblc invr:r'siorrs trccrrr in "lirsl tluy" tcxts. In the children's story I quotedin chaptcr 2, l littlc girt trrkcs r lion to school.'l'hc lion is not only an inverted partici-pant, hc cngagcs in invcrtctl rctions, sucl) rs "swishing his tail" threateningly during"r'cgistcr tirnc."'l-his crcatcs an incidcnt that disturbs the ordcrly unfolding of the"rcgistcr" episodc:

3.(r5 'l'hc tcacher stopped calling the registcr when she saw the little girl and the lion, andall the othcr children stared at the lion, wondering what the teachcr was going to say.The tcacher said to the little girl: "You know you are not allowed to bring pets toschool." The lion besan to swish his tail-swish -swash

When such deviant actions occur, they cause remedial actions or episodes to beinserted into the representation. Unrepentant deviants must be corrected in a punitivecpisode. Or an attempt must be made "to show that what admittedly appeared to bea thrcatening expression is really a meaningless event, or an unintentional act, or ajokc not meant to be taken seriously, or an unavoidable 'understandable' product ofcxtcnuating circumstances" (Goffman, 1974:.223). The teacher training texts in my"first ilay" corpus provide many instances of this:3.6(r 'l'hc skilllul tcachcr can save thc new entrant's face by showing hersell'to be on hissitlc: "l Ic's not rcally crying, that'sjust a noise he's making."I{crncdial actions rnry tlcvclop into full-scale social practices and become central in

tcxls rlclrling with dcviant bchavior. Newspaper reports on truancy, for instance, often referto tnruncy itscll'orrly hy rrrcans of'a handful ofobjectivations ("truancy") and abstractions("thc rroblcrrr") lnrl conccntratc on tho social actions which have been institutionalized(or luc rlarrrrcrl) to counlcrrct it, although there are, ofcourse, also reports which focus onllrt: r lt'v i;rrl lx'lr:rviol itscll, lor instancc, by means of short interviews with truant children.'l'lrc s;rrnc is lnr(' ()f nrc(li:r rcproscntations of many other social problems.l)t'vrnt ;rtlions irlw:rys prcscnt a threat to the orderly unfolding of social prac-I rt t's. 'l l rr'y r t'vt':rl l lrc contradictions that underlie these practices, contradictions suchrrs llrt' rrrrt'trr;rl tlistr ilxrtion ol-thc rewards of education among diflerent social groups.( )rr tlrr. otlrt'r lrirrrrl, rcrrcscntation of deviant action is also attractive, for it allows thev r( ;r rr )us tr rrrrsl'.r't'ssion ol'social norms. Hence, it forms the staple larc of many kindsrl tcrrs n('s,\. ( r irnc, Iiclion, gossip, and so on.

Socialaction

REPRTSENTINC SOCIAI ^CTION 7 I'l'lrc actions ol'Bruce Roxton, thc racist Australians love to hate, are inversronsol'"corrcct" social practices. He "damages" and "distorts" and is therefore rightl'ully"rcsented" by Australians-but his deviant actions are extensively covered by thcAustralian media, year after year.

B. ConclusionBy way of conclusion, I provide two summaries. Thble 3.2 summarizes my answcrto the qucstion with which I started and gives an overview of the principal ways

Unslecifiedf CognitiveReactionJf

AffectiveL Perceptive

,fAl:cnti;rliz:rlion livcnltt:ttiott-4 1LDcagcntialization ) l')xistt:rrtiirliz:rlionIL Ntlurlrlrz:tlrott

. ( it'ttet rtltzrtl tottfAbstraction- -)I I l)rstillrrtionL Cloncrcl iz:r I ion

Interactive Matcrial__- TransactivcI H L InstrumentalI rl L NontransactiveAction ---) | |I l- tlehavioral Form specificarionrsemioric i_J II 'l I Topic specificationI LNonbehavioral -)t l- RcndirionIL Quotation Activation) ObjcctivatitrnL Dcacrivarion __) L f )cscript ivizrrti,,n

.[Silrglc dclt'l ntirrt rort1 f Strrtl,,,ltz.rlr,,rrLOvcrtlclcr lrrr:rl rorr jI 1,,u,-,.,,,,'TABLE 3.2. Social Action Nt'lworL


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DISCOURSE AND PRACTICTin which actions and reactions can be represented in English discourse. As before,square brackets stand for either-or choices (e.g., deactivation can take the form ofobjectivation or descriptivization), curly brackets fbr simultaneous choices (e.g.,reactions can be activated and agentialized, or deactivated and agentialized). I willalso summarize what this descriptive framework has allowed me to observe about the"Race Odysscy" text.Both the actions and the reactions of the "racists in other countries" are repre-sented. Theil reactions to immigrants and immigration are portrayed as emotive andnegative, and their actions are transactive, as actual interactions with immigrants-material interactions, such as "attack," as well as behavioralized semiotic interac-tions, such as "insult." For the most part, these actions and reactions are activated,hencc prioritized in the rcprcscntation.Australians are also representcd as involved in actions and reactions. But Aus-tralian reactions are more oftcn portrayed as cognitive, considered, and reasonable,and whcn they do tend toward the affective and the negativc, they are mostly objec-tivatcd. The actions of Australians also differ from those of immigration critics inother countries: they tend not to involve interactions with immigrants. Australiansare represcnted as people who stand on the sidelines and monitor the events as theyunlbld, but not as directly participating in them.As fbr the Australian government, both its actions and its reactions are repre-sented, but the former are in the majority. Government action is either semiotic andactivated, or material, instrumentalized, and objectivated: what the government saystakes center stage; what it does, its instrumentalizcd transactions with immigrants,remains in the background.The immigrants thcmselves are never represented as reacting, and their actionsarc mostly nontransactive and objectivated. Only thc action of "immigrating" itselfis rcpresented straightforwardly. Other immigrant actions are veiled behind distilla-tions, such as "freezing out" and "besieging," or behind naturalizations which repre-sent their actions as "change."Thus, the "Race Odyssey" text allows us to glimpse racist actions in countriesother than Australia, but blocks us from access to what happens in Australia itself.Australian "criticism" of immigration takes place at the altogether different level of areasonable "debate." But it is a debate which keeps a safe distance from what actuallygoes on in Australia and which refers to actual interactions between Australians andimmigrants to Australia only in vague, objectivated, generalized, and abstract ways.And as far as the immigrants themsclves are conccrned, their voices are neverheard.

Time in D iscou rse

Iln this chapter. I describe the semiotic resources of English discourse for represent-ing the timing of social practices. My analysis draws on my corpus of "first day atschool" texts as well as on an unpublished study of the representation of time in stalTnewslctters, in-house magazines, and other written intcrnal communications fromRank Xerox (collected in 1995) and in six articles from thc Employment Gazette(July and September 1993).1 . lntroductionIn his rcmarkable book about time, the sociologist Norbert Elias stressed that time,and thc way we think and talk about it, is a product of the actvity of timing-theactivity ofmeasuring one kind ofactivity or evcnt sequence against anothcr kind ofactivity or event sequence (1992:43):

The reifying character of the substantival form "time" disguises the instrumentalcharacter ofthe activity oftiming. It obscures the fact that thc activity oftiming, e.g.,by looking at one's watch, has the function ofrelating to each other the positions ofcvents in the successivc ordcr of two or more change continuums.In this chaptc I focus on the resources which the English language providesfbr representing this activity. As before, this is not an end in itself, not a labor ofclassification for its own sake. Sociologists (and also musicologists; see VanLeeuwen, 1999) have drawn attention to the correspondcnces between the timing of

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Van Leeuwen - Representing Social Actions

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