Episode 28 Architects, astronomers and grammarians

In this episode I discuss… yup, you guessed it! Structure. I’ve been bandying that word around for quite some time without offering a clear definition. I don’t offer any clear definitions here, either, but I do make some associations. Does the word ‘structure’ conjure up ideas about stability, regularity, consistency permanence? I suggest today that we can study social structure while at the same time allowing for the idea that structures are variable, fluid and multitudinous. What’s more, with each new structure emerges a new possibilities for imagining structures – indeed, new ways of thinking about social structure.

I often claim I’m using grammar to identify possibilities for social structure. It would be more accurate to say that I’m using the principles of grammar (specifically, M.A.K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar) to identify the structural properties of texts. Halliday defines ‘text’ as ‘any instance of language, in any medium, that makes sense to someone who knows the language’ (Halliday 2014, p. 3) Studying texts allows me to stop time, and to explore the structural properties of conversations about or descriptions of the social world.

The conversational text I discuss in this episode is one in which Ally, a first-year university student, is talking about her course, which she’s not enjoying very much:

I explore what’s called the ‘thematic structure’ of the text. That means looking at each of the clauses, and identifying the ‘Themes’. A Theme is a point of departure – the first element of the clause, which sets the stage (as it were) for the message. The Theme of each clause is indicated in bold, below:

the thing is you arrive at your lecture you sit down the lecturer goes on and then you leave there’s not really much change to like get to know people

The thematic organisation of this text presents a particular shape of a particular social world, one comprised of two entities: a unnamed, generic, unindividuated self (you) and a nameless lecturer. Reminds me of the scenario I painted last week of what it felt like to give lectures at the beginning of my teaching career! Next week I’d like to share some other structured images of classroom settings that emerge from other conversations with students. Is it really the case that each new structure presents new possibilities for transformation? Let’s see if I can convince you of that in Episode 29.