35.516, Review: Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis: Levinsohn (2023)

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Subject: 35.516, Review: Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis: Levinsohn (2023)

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Date: 15-Feb-2024
From: Portia Opare [opare at uni-bremen.de]
Subject: Discourse Analysis: Levinsohn (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.1858

AUTHOR:  Stephen   H Levinsohn
TITLE: Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis
PUBLISHER: SIL International Publications
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Portia Opare

SUMMARY

Stephen L. Levinsohn’s “Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative
Discourse Analysis” is a coursebook designed to guide students and
translators engaged in the translation of narrative texts from one
language to another. The book belongs to the broader field of
textlinguistics, but it pays particular attention to the analysis of
narrative texts and its intersection with cross-linguistic
translation. In its ten interactive chapters, “Self-Instruction
Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis” not only engages the
interests and needs of its primary audience — language students and
translators embarking on language projects, those translating works of
Scripture or other narratives, and those engaged in the study of
languages spoken anywhere in the world — but goes a step further to
captivate the interest of students of narrative as well as the
everyday reader who is curious to know how stories move from word to
sentence to creative narrative.

Beginning with a functional approach to textlinguistics, Levinsohn’s
book analyses how certain linguistic structures are used in narrative,
the functions these structures serve, and the factors that condition
their use. As a starting point, the author communicates three
important concepts that underlie textual analysis — concepts that
would guide the course and use of the book. These concepts are: first,
that choice implies meaning, second, that there are significant
differences between semantic meanings and pragmatic effects, and,
third, that there is a need to understand how the concept of
markedness distinguishes linguistic features that are present from
those that are absent.
In addition to setting out the guiding concepts of the book, Levinsohn
addresses several key issues in narrative discourse analysis. The
author takes the trouble to lay out these issues in the book’s
introductory chapter. There is a table of contents of course, but this
succinct outline of the book’s chapters provides additional assistance
to the reader who quickly needs to decide if this is the best choice
of book among the many options that exist. Notable among the key
topics discussed in the book are the selection, preparation, and
charting of narrative texts; articulation of sentences, coherence, and
discontinuities; focus, emphasis, and prominence; the relative
prominence of sentences of a text; non-subordinating connectives in
narrative; the reporting of conversation in narrative; and participant
referencing.

One could assume that any book that promises to provide
self-instructed guidance to anyone “engaged in the study of a language
spoken anywhere in the world” (Levinsohn 2023) undertakes an ambitious
task. Nonetheless, “Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse
Analysis” comes close to delivering on this promise through its
presentation of source material and linguistic structures from a wide
array of world languages. As the book moves from the familiar to the
obscure, comparing roughly universal linguistic structures with the
culturally distinct, students and translators can begin to understand
their chosen language and how it lends itself to translation into
another language. It is true that the book is not an exhaustive list
of all the languages in the world, but it is a sufficient collection
of a diverse set of languages and the possibilities they present for
translation. The author does not hesitate to give his expert opinion
on what linguistic structures are fairly universal, and to provide
tentative opinions on how certain groups of languages may render
linguistic structures. In such instances, student translators are
encouraged to give keener attention to their source language and the
possibilities it holds for linguistic and translational nuance.
In all, the book remains relevant to the social and pragmatic aspects
of narrative discourse analysis by foregrounding the principle that,
in the analysis of texts, explanations drawn are extra-sentential,
involving the linguistic and wider context of the text.

EVALUATION

Levinsohn’s “Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse
Analysis” can be credited with a number of merits. The most compelling
of these is the book’s organisational structure and the implications
that structure has for the book’s overall effectiveness. First, the
author opens with an informative introduction detailing the book’s
purpose and scope. Part of this introduction comprises an overview
which contributes to building anticipation, answering preliminary
questions, and allowing readers to decide if the book is for them.
Further, each of the book’s ten chapters – as well as many of its
sub-headings – opens with an abstract summarising the content and
purpose of the chapter. Additionally, each chapter relates previous
discussions to ongoing ones. Again, transitional devices chart the
movement of the book’s content from chapter to chapter, ensuring
coherence and clearly showing the author’s commitment to continuity
and coherence. The author’s ability to move between chapters,
connecting thought to topic and chapter to chapter, is invaluable for
a book designed to be used self-instructively. This is because
incoherence, disunity, and clutter invariably impedes comprehension,
and consequently, application. Another factor that complements the
book’s organisational advantages is its outline and formatting. In
many instances, carefully simplified articulations of even the most
technical concepts are included in the book. Often, these are set out
from the rest of the text through italicization, bolding, or the use
of text boxes, making them easy to note and read.

Simplicity and relatability, valuable considerations for any
self-instructional material, are further merits of “Self-Instruction
Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis.” The book achieves its
simplicity through the use of simple sentences and clauses, as well as
rule-like, declarative sentences that aid application and remembrance.
The instructions in the book are direct, practical, clear, and
straightforward. With regard to relatability, the author employs
direct address, the use of inclusive personal pronouns, references to
himself as well as personal anecdotes – for example on page 3 – to
connect to his readers and gain their confidence. Also, the author
comments on his own process in charting and analysing texts.
Generally, the book has an encouraging tone, showcasing an attitude of
camaraderie as the author shares his own past errors and experiences.
Levinsohn remains accessible to his audience, going even further in
his accessibility by providing an email address to his readers if the
need for further consultation arises.

As broad a field as textlinguistics is, it would be rather curious if
Stephen Levinsohn’s “Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse
Analysis” fails to interact with existing literature in the field.
Thus, the author provides copious sources of referenced literature and
citations, engaging literature both old and contemporary, to solidly
ground his theorizations.  In the book’s engagement with a wide range
of literature, the author is unafraid to critique, modify, or expand
upon theories and concepts from established sources. For example, on
page 127, Levinsohn critiques and expands upon Givón’s Iconicity
Principle, and offers an alternative that is more amenable to the work
at hand. Through such engagements, one sees how the book privileges
flexibility, adaptability, and practicality when it comes to
translation. Thus, while respecting the concepts and traditions in the
established literature, the author expands to think of other scenarios
that could exist and carefully explores them with innovation. This
practice is commendable, and students could learn lessons from this in
their own academic and linguistic careers.

Compared to other works in the field, “Self-Instruction Materials on
Narrative Discourse Analysis” offers something quite different when it
narrows its scope to deal specifically with instructing translators.
Much of the existing literature on textlinguistics is limited to
singular linguistic concepts (like Lambrecht 2000) or individual
languages or one family of languages (like Berthelette 2004). What
Levinsohn offers in “Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse
Analysis” is therefore distinct, and this leads to the next aspect of
the book’s merits: its usefulness in terms of guidance and
instruction.

To start with, a student or beginner translator couldn’t possibly cull
and collate all the relevant instructions needed for effective
translation from the sea of existing literature. Even if they could,
it would not be without significant loss of time and resources. What
Levinsohn does with his “Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative
Discourse Analysis” is to collate these helpful techniques and
pointers, coupled with his own expertise and experience, for use by
students and translators. When a student has access to this material,
the linguistic concepts underpinning translation practices are set out
in detail in the chapters. These concepts are explained and discussed,
then a justification is given with examples illustrating the point. In
this, the readers’ attention is drawn to the important aspects of the
explanation that holds relevance for translation. There is rarely a
chance for the question “What is the point of all this?” to crop up.
Moreover, the discussions in the book are not just a description of
linguistic structure and style, but the functions as well as the
effects of linguistic structures, and the bearing they have on
translation. Readers thus know that they are not merely engaging with
theoretical concepts, but rather with concepts that hold direct
relevance for translation.

The book is also useful for providing instruction in additional
reading of detailed works on topics that are merely broached.
Levinsohn for instance recommends his “Analysing Discourse: A manual
of Basic Concepts”, co-authored with Robert A. Dooley. In fact, the
entire section on “Coherence and Cohesion” in Chapter two is left to
the reader’s independent reading. The good thing about this move is
the accessibility of the material; students willing to go the extra
mile can easily access it. Levinsohn takes a chance however with other
students who might not read the recommended material. All is not lost,
however, as even if a reader doesn’t follow through with the reading,
they can still carry on with the rest of the discussion without
confusion.

“Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis” is useful
in the care it gives to ensuring that certain technical linguistic
concepts are carefully explained to readers. It is true that some
readers may need to be conversant with some of the books with
linguistic concepts, and the author makes an attempt to assist, both
within the text and in the footnotes. Again, being quite aware of the
possibility of confusion, the author is simple and flexible in his
definitions, and this goes a long way to aid understanding and
subsequent application.
Stephen Levisohn’s book is tremendously useful in its provision of
practical tools that help its readers translate their narrative texts.
Among these are indices to language and bible references, interactive
footnotes, review questions, and practical application to the language
one is translating. A lot more attention will be given to the last two
of these tools, starting with the book’s review questions. Inserted in
between sections of the book in bite-sizes, these review questions are
extremely useful in pointing readers to the crux of the discussion. In
addition to focusing attention on the essentials of the topics under
discussion, the book’s review questions give readers a means to assess
how well they have grasped the concepts. If in doubt, test yourself
with the review questions, and try again if you fare poorly.
Levinsohn’s organisational strength does not go unnoticed in the
layout of the review questions: the answers to the questions are
arranged right at the foot of the page, saving readers the trouble of
having to flip over to the end of the chapter or worse, the entire
book.

Finally, a practical tool that touches the core of the task the book
sets out to achieve is the section titled “Application to the language
you are analysing”, which suggests how readers can apply what they
have learned to their texts. Here, the actual work of narrative
discourse analysis takes place, and readers are instructed in clear,
unambiguous terms how to put their reading into practice. In applying
knowledge to actual practice, students are not left on their own, as
many sections of the book feature appendices of the author’s own
analyses of selected texts.

“Self-Instruction Materials on Narrative Discourse Analysis” delivers
on its goal of walking with students and translators, providing them
with the relevant knowledge to undertake the study of languages spoken
anywhere in the world, and to confidently be on the path of analysing
and translating narrative texts from one language to another.

REFERENCES

Berthelette, John J. Information structure in narrative texts in Byali
(a Gur language of Benin). (2004).

Coulthard, Malcolm. An introduction to discourse analysis. Applied
Linguistics and Language Studies. London. 1997.

Dooley, Robert A., and Stephen H. Levinsohn. Analysing Discourse: A
manual of Basic Concepts. Dallas: SIL International (2001).

Lambrecht, Knud. When subjects behave like objects: An analysis of the
merging of S and O in sentence-focus constructions across languages.
Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation
“Foundations of Language” 24.3 (2000): 611-682.

Levinsohn, Stephen H. Self-Instruction Material on Narrative Discourse
Analysis.  SIL International Publications, 2023.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Portia Dede Opare is a second-year MA student at the Universität
Bremen, Germany, studying English-Speaking Cultures. She is currently
working on semantic choices and its intersection with narratology and
postcolonial literatures. She has a keen interest in semantics,
stylistics, postcolonial fiction, as well as poetry.



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