DOI: 10.5176/2251-2853_2.1.72
Authors: Tan Swee Mee and Leong Ping Alvin
Abstract:
In this study, we discuss the identity of a Straitsborn Chinese poet, Shirley Lim, through a systemic-functional analysis of one of her poems, Monsoon History. Focusing on the transitivity system of the Hallidayan framework, we demonstrate how the poet uses nature to represent her identity, making herself one with the surroundings. The experiential elements in the analysis show how the poet, notwithstanding her external identity as a Chinese immersed in a mix of cultures and influences, uses the description of the weather and natural surroundings to project her inner identity with the mother land. Our analysis suggests that the Hallidayan transitivity framework is a valuable resource for construing not merely our experience of the world, but our ideals at a deeper level
Keywords: Terms—systemic-functional linguistics, transitivity system, Chinese identity, Straits-born Chinese
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