An Approach to the Schematic Structure of the Preface to the Pastoral Care

Abstract

Abstract Notes 1 McGregor (1991 McGregor, W. 1991. “The Concept of Rank Scale in Systemic Linguistics”. In Functional and Systemic Linguistics: Approaches and Uses, Edited by: Ventola, E. 121–138. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. [Google Scholar]) defends this universal character through the hypothesis of rank scale, although he maintains that ranks themselves and their number could vary in certain cases. 2 Davies (1996 Davies, M. 1996. “Theme and Information until Shakespeare”. In Meaning and Form: Systemic Functional Interpretations, Edited by: Berry, M. 113–149. Norwood, N.J: Ablex. [Google Scholar]: 113) justifies his attempt to extend Halliday's thematic and information structure to the period before Shakespeare by admitting that Halliday's (1994[1985]: 163) functional grammar offers tempting paragraphs that invite the researcher to explore English historical development. 3 Martin & Rose (2003 Martin, J.R. and Rose, D. 2003. Working with Discourse: Meaning beyond the Clause, London: Continuum. [Google Scholar]) provide a set of tools for discourse analysis informed by systemic functional grammar that takes Martin (1992 Martin, J.R. 1992. English Text: System and Structure, Amsterdam: John Benjamins. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) as a point of departure, although within the framework of more explicit critical interests. 4 My citations are in the form [page number.line number] from Hatton MS in Sweet's (1871 Szarmach, P.E. 1980. The Meaning of Alfred's Preface to the Pastoral Care. Mediaevalia: A Journal of Medieval Studies, 6: 57–86. [Google Scholar]) edition. Transitivity structures only refer to the relevant elements of the fragments selected. Sections into Modern English also refer to the translation provided by Sweet's edition. 5 The Christian Church displayed an outstanding influence as an institution of social and economic power. The king acted as a religious and political leader whereas the Church tried to fit its own members in the wergilds scale (Angenendt 1986 Angenendt, A. 1986. The Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons Considered against the Background of the Early Medieval Mission. Settimane di Studio del Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo, 32(2): 747–792. [Google Scholar]; Whitelock 1952 Whitelock, D. 1952. The Beginnings of English Society, Harmondsworth: Penguin. [Google Scholar]: 29–47). Christianity also brought literacy on a very ambitious scale and education was instituted as a complementary service to God (Lendinara 1991 Lendinara, P. 1991. “The World of Anglo-Saxon Learning”. In The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature, Edited by: Godden, M. and Lapidge, M. 264–281. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Lees 2002 Lees, C.A. 2002. “Didacticism and the Christian Community: The Teachers and the Taught”. In Old English Literature: Critical Essays, Edited by: Liuzza, R.M. 236–270. New Haven: Yale University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 6 As explained by Orton (1983 Orton, P. 1983. King Alfred's Prose Preface to the Old English Pastoral Care, 11.30-41. Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland, 2: 140–148. [Google Scholar]: 145), “the witu suffered by the English for their slackness are almost certainly the Viking attacks; and the placing of this observation next to the appeal to present bishops may imply some criticism of them”. According to Orton (1983 Orton, P. 1983. King Alfred's Prose Preface to the Old English Pastoral Care, 11.30-41. Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland, 2: 140–148. [Google Scholar]: 148), Alfred only alludes to the Vikings in passing, as he recognized that the problems he was up against were rooted in the English Church.