DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF DIRECTIVE TEXTS:
THE CASE OF BIBLICAL LAW


A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

By Anne E. Garber Kompaoré
ASSOCIATED MENNONITE BIBLICAL SEMINARY
ELKHART, INDIANA, U.S.A.
OCTOBER, 2004

ABSTRACT

This thesis proposes a blue-print of a methodology for the linguistic analysis of Biblical Law from the perspective of discourse analysis. Since the discipline of discourse analysis as applied to Biblical literature is still in the early stages of development, the first chapter focuses on the definition and general theoretical orientation of discourse analysis for Biblical Hebrew, comparing it with other language-oriented approaches such as semantics, syntax, pragmatics, literary analysis, rhetorical analysis, and text-linguistics. I conclude with the proposal that discourse analysis includes aspects of all of these disciplines, but seeks first and foremost to understand the linguistic structure and content of texts.

The second chapter examines parameters needed to facilitate both classification strategies and analysis. First level classification is based on the parameter of communicative purpose, which leads to the defining of the ‘directive’ text type. Directive texts, of which legal texts form a part, consist of discourse where the speaker speaks his/her will that a specific act be done by another person. This can include anything from prayer to requests, to advice, exhortation, decrees, and laws. Parameters are then examined with the goal of distinguishing legal texts from other types of directives. Finally, it is demonstrated how a variety of classification strategies based on differing parameters can be a useful tool for the analysis of legal texts.

The succeeding chapters then detail the steps required for a comprehensive discourse analysis of Biblical law. The corpus consists of the legal texts of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Chapter Three begins with an introduction to the basic aspects that need to be investigated – theme and topic, cohesion, continuity, discontinuity, progression, prominence, semantic roles and relations, and structural organisation. It then presents a procedural outline, techniques for the visual layout of the text, as well as a reminder that the analysis must take into account the textual context. Chapter Four provides guidelines for the identification of units, boundaries, and the cognitive structuring of a text, as well as for the analysis of the semantic relations between clauses and units. Chapter Five focuses on structural matters: linear and parallel structural arrangements, and patterns of regularity and prominence. Chapter Six discusses how to analyse thematic development in a text, specifically the matter of tracking participant reference, and the role and distribution of repetition, and lack thereof, in thematic continuity and progression. The proposed analysis addresses the challenge that word order in legal texts and other types of directives differs significantly from word order in narrative texts. Chapter Seven concludes the methodological outline with a reminder that it is important to be aware of the extra-linguistic factors that can influence analysis. It also provides a procedure for the analysis of the functions of specific linguistic structures found in legal texts, by way of comparative analysis of similar and different text types.

The final conclusion to this thesis offers some general reflections on how this analytic approach can contribute to the current research on Biblical Hebrew. While much work has been done on narrative texts, the discourse analysis of directive texts is still largely unexplored territory. It is my hope that this work may spur others to discover yet other aspects of this fascinating topic, giving them tools with which they can begin, and later build on, improve, and offer further fruitful insights.


Link to the full text:
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF DIRECTIVE TEXTS (PDF)


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