How might we represent specifically the
>contextual constraining and enabling of changes in text-types
>(registers) made possible by (contextually constrained & enabled)
>textual events? I keep wanting a movie-image, a dynamic graphing,
>of events at different time depths and the relations between them.
>
A term I have heard used to describe this is logogenesis - the unfolding
potential of a text as it develops. Thus there are three different kinds of
time depth with which to chart weather/climate:
phylogenesis - the unfolding of meaning potential over historical time
ontogenesis - the unfolding of meaning potential over biographical time
logogenesis - the unfolding of meaning over text time.
Neat as this is, I also know that trying to account for logogenetic shifts
in meaning potential is one of the hardest things to do in Systemic
Linguistics.
Extending some early work by Halliday, Martin has written about this four
perspectives with which to consider thesee shifts: part-part relations
(Serial) and part-whole relations (useful for examing the construal of
experiential meaning; 'smeared', or prosodically realised, relations
(useful for interpersonal meanings); and 'wave-like' or periodic relations
(useful for looking at how texts organise themselves.
I'm not sure if there are some widely available references for these ideas.
If Jim is reading this, he may know.
Robert
Robert Veel
PO Box 804
Glebe NSW 2037
Australia
Ph/Fax: +61-2-692-9618
E-mail: rveel who-is-at extro.ucc.su.oz.au