Illuminating systemic functional grammatics (theory) as a viable tool of digital humanities

Abstract

The focus of the study is the application of Systemic Functional Grammatics (SFG) to text as a facility of meaning-making. Having provided a wide room for technological devices to read and account for elements of a text, it portrays the exercise within the scope of Digital Humanities (DH). The theory, championed by Halliday, describes a text from its systemic configurations to chain structures and social relationship frameworks. To explain the weight of SFG as an interface between text and technology, the author chose a poem, 'Area Boy', in which three perspectives of the mood system, thematic system, and transitivity system are instrumental to expose its nuances. The approach was followed by correlating the three systems together as a comparative analysis. The study reveals that 'Area Boy' operates in declarative clauses with heavy utilization of Subject and Finite. These are organized in marked themes. The contents of the text are represented in material processes (e.g. spent) with supports from both mental (e.g. remember) and verbal (e.g. said) processes. Some of the processes along with circumstances (e.g. Of washing , Now that ) recur as repetitions for emphatic and enhancement purposes. On the one hand, the article concludes that SFG can assist in interpreting textual elements to generate meaning potential. On the other hand, through the SFG's metafunctional applications to 'Area Boy', one can suggest that the society should give a helping hand to the less privileged. Such a behavior can eradicate vices experienced through the 'Area Boys' from the society.