Rhetoric in Society
Construing ’hope’ in gene
modification discourse:
A study of inscribed and invoked
mental processes
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages, Culture and Aesthetics, Aalborg
Construing ’hope’
Background and context:
o The project ’Language, Society and
Genomics’
o The context of European skepticism
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Construing ’hope’
Some purposes of this presentation:
To argue that the mental process ’hope’- in its many
explicit and implicit realizations - covers a vast
meaning potential, ranging on a cline between
desiderative sensing processes like ’want’ to
cognitive processes like ’think’.
To suggest that – whether congruent or incongruent,
explicit or implicit - the meaning potential of
’hope’ expands through the interaction of
appraisal resources and fundamental speech
functions.
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Construing ’hope’
Data and method:
Ten interviews (eleven attitudes to the crops of the
future)
A Danish freelance journalist’s commission:
’Present a picture of the current attitudes to GMO
and biotechnology in Denmark through
interviews with approximately equal numbers of
skeptics and supporters’ (Christiansen 2002: 8)
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Construing ’hope’
Theoretical approach:
• Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday
(1994), Halliday &Matthiessen 1999),
Matthiessen (2004), Martin (1997), White
(2001), Martin and Rose (2003), Martin
and White (2005).
• Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough
1995, 1998, 2003).
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Construing ’hope’
Table 1: Giving or demanding, goods-&-services or information
Role in exchange
Commodity exchanged
(a) goods-&-services
(b) information
(i) giving
‘offer’
[proposal]
‘statement’
[proposition]
(ii) demanding
‘command’
[proposal]
‘question’
[proposition]
(Halliday (revised by Matthiessen 2004: 107)
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Construing ’hope’
SENSING PROCESSES:
o Perceptive (pre-project facts (’they heard that..’)
o Emotive (pre-project facts (’they were sad
that…’)
o Cognitive (create worlds of ideas about
information that may not be valid) (’I think’)
o Desiderative (create worlds of ideas, whose
materialization depends on desire) (’I want’)
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Table 2. Realization of hope in ten interviews
‘HOPE’ (in direct quotes)
ENGAGEMENT
ATTRIBUTED UTTERANCES
3 examples
ATTITUDE
AFFECT
JUDGMENT
APPRECIATION
7 examples
7 examples
5 examples
9
examples
43
examples
5
examples
0 examples
0 examples
0 examples
0 examples
0 examples
0 examples
MODALITY (67 examples in
total)
10 examples
DISCLAIMERS
3 examples
PROCLAIMERS
3 examples
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Construing ’hope’
Realizations of ’hope’:
 Example 1: (congruent, explicit
realization)
’I hope that with time, GM technology will
be recognized and used by
environmentalists’ (2002: 10)
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Construing ’hope’
Interaction of ’hope’, appraisal resources and speech
functions:
 Example 2 (3): Modalized Judgment (capacity),
probability, inscribed
’By means of genetic engineering we can do this
[interfere with nature: author’s comment] in a better,
faster, safer and more applied manner. I am convinced
that future generations will make the conclusion that GM
technology has contributed greatly to making the world a
better place (2000: 13) (Judgment in italics; modality
underlined).
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Construing ’hope’
• Example 3 (8): Modulated Judgment, obligation
(invoked negative Judgment of Greenpeace;
inscribed positive Appreciation of GMtechnology)
’When the population understands that the
technology benefits the environment and
sustainability – and at the same time is entirely
safe – Greenpeace and the like will have to pack
their bags. They will lose the battle’ (2000: 91).
(Judgment in italics; modality underlined;
appreciation in bold).
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Construing ’hope’
• Example 4 (11): Modulated objective
obligation: Positive invoked Judgment of
’following the same procedure’.
’It is an utter necessity that we all follow
the same procedure of approval’ (2000: 30)
(Modulation underlined; Judgment in
italics)
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Construing ’hope’
• Example 5 (16): Modulated obligation and
invoked negative Judgment of experts ’saying
that GM technology is safe’.
’The decisive element will be that the
researchers do not make the mistake of saying
that GM technology is ’completely safe’ because
nothing is (2000: 83). (Modulation underlined;
Judgment in italics)
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Construing ’hope’
• Example 6 (24): Modulated obligation and
invoked negative Affect and negative Judgment
of scientific experiments.
’ I want experiments in which organic crops are
compared with conventional and GM crops
respectively’ (2000: 23) (Modulation underlined;
Affect in bold; Judgment in italics).
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Construing ’hope’
• Example 7: Inscribed positive Affect, positive
Appreciation and positive Judgment combined
with modal ’would be’(readiness/ ability/
inclination)
’It would be nice to get a GM variety with
resistance against fungus and mould so I could
reduce the frequency of the pesticide treatments
from the present eight sprays’ (2000: 47).
(Judgment in italics; Appreciation underlined;
Affect in bold)
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Construing ’hope’
• Example 8 (35): Engagement, proclaiming
combined with invoked positive Judgment and
modalization.
’How long will it be before genetically
engineered plants are just as accepted and sought
after in Denmark and Europe as GMO medicine
is? [….] It is coming. I have no doubts
whatsoever’ (2000: 89). (Judgment in italics;
proclaiming part in bold; modalization
underlined)
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Construing ’hope’
Conclusions:
o The notion of ’hope’ was an all-pervading feature
in the interviews analysed
o GMO-proponents hoped for wide acceptance of
GM-technology
o GMO-skeptics hoped for improved governance
and control of risk relating to GM-technology
(and feared untrolled technological advance)
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Construing ’hope’
Conclusions continued:
o The ten interviews only had three explicit
realizations of ’hope’
o Instead, ’hope’ was expressed through invoked
appraisal resources (in particular Judgment)
combined with the modality system of
probability, obligation, inclination and
potentiality and through metaphors of mood and
modality.
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Construing ’hope’
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