《经济学人》讣告的体裁分析

The Genre Analysis of Obituaries of The Economist

随着社会发展和对生命质量、死亡尊严的日益重视,“死亡”这一话题越来越多地诉诸言语表达。讣告作为死亡话语一种类别,逐渐变得多元、包容,引发读者共鸣,获得学者关注。该文从《经济学人》中选取10篇英文讣告,以斯威尔斯的“语步—步骤”分析法为基础,初探讣告的体裁结构特征,并分析该类型体裁语言的交际目的如何实现。讣告作者通过不同语步和步骤帮助读者了解逝者,从而实现作者、读者和逝者的“交流”。该文有助于丰富体裁分析理论的研究范围,学习英文讣告的写作风格,在某些方面给予中文讣告写作启示,此外也引发对生命的反思。

With the development of society and the increasing emphasis on the quality of life and the dignity of death,the topic of"death"has been increasingly expressed in words.Obituary,as a kind of death discourse,is diversified,inclusive to arouse readers'resonance and stimulate scholars'interest.This study selects 10 English obituaries from The Economist.Based on Swales'"move-step"analysis model,the author summarizes the generic structure of the obituary and analyzes how communicative purposes are realized.Through different moves and steps,obituary writers help readers understand the deceased and form an effective interaction among the author,readers and the deceased.This study will be helpful to enrich the research scope of genre analysis,learn the writing style of English obituaries,give inspiration to Chinese obituaries in some aspects,and trigger reflection on life.