AnAnalysisofThemesandThematicProgressionPatternsinEnglishLyricsWithLoveSubject

时间:2022-03-12 09:35:05 公文范文 来源:网友投稿

  Abstract:This thesis attempts to analyze the choice of themes as well as thematic progression pattern in English lyrics with love subjects and figure out how do these choices achieve a sense of coherence.
  Key Words:Themes;Thematic Progression Pattern;Coherence
  1 Introduction
  As a special type of poem,lyrics have an independent value in discourse analysis.They process the features of both spoken discourses and written texts since they are written to sing.The attempts on the study of English lyrics are of great importance.Firstly,the analysis on themes and thematic progression patterns in English lyrics can help English learners especially those who want to learn English through singing English songs have a better understanding on the structure and expressions of lyrics.Secondly,through analyzing thematic progression patterns,the way in which English lyrics move smoothly and achieve a sense of coherence can be figured out.Thirdly,it is also helpful for extending the application of themes as well as thematic progression pattern.
  2 Themes
  The system of Theme sets up a local environment providing a point of departure;what is presented in this environment is the Rheme.The clause as a message is thus a configuration of two thematic statuses,Theme+Rheme.Based on Bloor & Bloor (2001:75),themes are divided into simple themes which consist of declarative and non-declarative themes and multiple themes.In this paper,the realization of simple declarative themes are divided into nominal groups,deixis and clause.In terms of multiple themes,they are analyzed from the perspective of metafunction,namely textual,interpersonal and experiential function in the text.
  In most lyrics of English love songs,simple themes overwhelm multiple themes.And in virtue of simple themes,dexis takes the largest proportion,especially pronouns.Take the following for example:
  You are on the phone with your girlfriend.She is upset.She is going off about something that you said.She doesn’t get your humor like I do.I am in the room.It is a typical Tuesday night.I am listening to the kind of music she doesn’t like.And she will never know your story like I do...
  This pieces of lyrics is abstracted from the English love song“You Belong With Me”,which is one of the most popular songs of Taylor Swift.This love song expresses the feelings of a woman who has been fallen in love with a man secretly.However,the man has already had a girlfriend though they do not match each other well in the woman’s eye.From the abstract it can be found that the starting part or the theme of most sentences are first,second and third pronouns.Even in the multiple themes,the experiential themes are pronouns,too.In this text,the lyric author uses the pronoun“I”to not only express her feelings directly but also make a contrast with the pronoun“her”.The reason is that the author think“you and she do not match each other and you belong with me”.The choice of pronouns successfully close the distance among the author,the singer and the audience and arose an atmosphere by which everyone who has similar experiences can be touched.

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