Analyzing Humanistic Texts: Television and Philosophy
Humanistic Approach
This text is undeniably humanistic, aiming to develop a subjective perspective on the concept of ‘television’, which can be considered a test case. The fragment belongs to the realm of philosophy, employing a personal style to present ideas.
The text is an essay fragment from the publication Images and Words. It’s not the entire work, but a section intended to argue a specific theory.
Notably, the text uses the 1st person, common in essays, implementing dialectics effectively.
The declarative mode prevails, with educational value as the author explores the term ‘television’.
The dominant functions are emotional/expressive and poetic, as the author elucidates the subjective value and etymology of words.
The technique of expression is argumentation, developing ideas around the Greek origins of ‘television’ and enunciation.
General Characteristics
- Abundance of abstract nouns (e.g., ‘distance’).
- Personal style in idea development.
- Wide syntactic periods with extensive use of subordinate clauses (substantive and adjective) and coordination (copulative and adversative). Numerous examples of forms using the pronoun ‘you’.
- Use of specified and explanatory adjectives.
- Subjective characteristics, clarity, and accuracy in language.
- Rich, educated, and diverse vocabulary.
Coherence is distinctive in this type of discourse due to the limited nature of ideas and descriptive text. Each idea is rigorously developed, as seen in synthetic and analytical texts. Speculations revolve around ‘television’.
Transmission Channel
The channel is written, specifically book editing, though such texts can appear in newspapers or other media.
Adequacy
Regarding adequacy, the author must explain and argue clearly and objectively (subjectively in certain terms). The receiver is a reader with a high capacity for understanding, typical of philosophical texts.
Morphosyntactic Level
Language resources reinforce the humanistic nature:
- Linking verbs (especially ‘is’) are prevalent, with frequent use of verb clauses (‘you can see’, ‘seems to be’).
- Tendency to use relative links with nouns (‘what’), introducing sentences with mediating value.
- Ellipsis of sentence elements (subject, links, verbs).
- Limited use of adjectives, predominantly objective and descriptive (‘Greek’, ‘previous’), with occasional epithets (‘mere’).
- Use of determinants, especially ‘what’, highlighting neutral and impersonal terms (‘the far’).
- Frequent use of relative pronouns introducing subordinate clauses, clarifying the exposition of ideas.
Lexical-Semantic View
The vocabulary is rich, cultured, and varied, with abstract nouns (e.g., ‘distance’, ‘distant’). The etymological exploration of ‘television’ is notable.
Conclusion
This fragment represents a typical philosophical discourse, presenting and arguing ideas.