Misunderstanding Prosodic Structure And The Notion Of Metafunction

Martin and Rose (2007: 39):

In order to illustrate a prosody of positive appreciations, we’ll switch fields for a moment and consider a review of the current CD edition of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s album Texas Flood (courtesy of Amazon.com):

This legendary 1983 debut by the fallen torchbearer of the '80s-'90s blues revival sounds even more dramatic in its remixed and expanded edition. Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar and vocals are a bit brighter and more present on this 14-track CD. And the newly included bonus numbers (an incendiary studio version of the slow blues "Tin Pan Alley" that was left off the original release, and live takes of "Testify," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and the instrumental "Wham!" from a 1983 Hollywood concert) illuminate the raw soul and passion that propelled his artistry even when he was under the spell of drug addiction. Texas Flood captures Vaughan as rockin' blues purist, paying tribute in his inspired six-string diction to his influences Larry Davis (who wrote the title track). Buddy Guy, Albert King, and Jimi Hendrix. His own contemplative "Lenny," a tribute to his wife at the time, also suggests a jazz-fuelled complexity that would infuse his later work. (Drozdowski 2000)

This is a rave review from an in-house editor, designed to persuade Amazon’s customers to purchase Vaughan’s debut album. The album in general and certain tracks in particular are described in very positive terms:

legendary, even more dramatic, bit brighter, more present, incendiary, contemplative, jazz-fuelled complexity

To these appraisals we might add some arguably experiential meanings with a positive value in the context of this new edition of Texas Flood:

remixed, expanded, bonus

Blogger Comments:

[1]  This misunderstands the notion of prosody.  In SFL theory, prosody is a type of structure.  In order to illustrate "a prosody of positive appreciations" the structure in which these elements function would need to be identified.  Since Martin and Rose locate the appraisal system of attitude on Martin's stratum of discourse semantics, the structures would need to be discourse semantic structures of the interpersonal metafunction, namely: moves in exchanges.  Otherwise, the notion of 'prosody' can be applied to any meaning, interpersonal or otherwise.  For example, consider the "prosody" of processes in the rave review above:

sounds, are, was, illuminate, propelled, was, captures, paying, wrote, suggests, would infuse

[2] The wording 'arguably experiential meanings' betrays Martin's (1992: 390) misunderstanding of the metafunctions as 'interacting modules'; see, for example Misconstruing Strata And Metafunctions As Modules.  In this context, meanings "with a positive value" are interpersonal meanings.