Self-Improvement Books: a Genre Analysis
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SELF-IMPROVEMENT BOOKS: A GENRE ANALYSIS by Koay Dong Liang A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics Victoria University of Wellington 2015 i ii To the memory of my late grandmother, Lim Chai Siew, for your sacrificial love To my mother, Tan Yeap Wah, who taught me how to hold a pencil And to my sister, Ruby Koay, for all the wonderful childhood memories iii iv Abstract The aim of the thesis is to explore the characteristics of self-improvement books as a genre. Although self-improvement books are a widely read genre, particularly in the Western world, none to my knowledge has examined the linguistic features of this genre in detail. The thesis draws on the three main schools of genre theory: English for Specific Purposes, Systemic Functional Linguistics, and the New Rhetoric, and begins by investigating the sections (e.g., acknowledgement, introduction chapter) in self- improvement books and the typicality of the sections. Focusing on three sections: introduction chapters, body chapters, and about the author sections, the thesis examines how authors structure the sections by analysing the moves and steps. This study also examines the stories in self-improvement books by analysing the purpose of the stories and their structure. Stories were chosen because they seemed to be a feature of self- improvement books based on my observation and as suggested by interview data. To analyse self-improvement books at a register level, the thesis examines the most unambiguous aspects of engagement: personal pronouns focusing on you, imperative clauses, and questions. It also examines the lexicogrammatical features of self- improvement book titles and compares them to the titles of historical biographies, showing that imperative clauses and ing-clause are found only in self-improvement book titles. Drawing on interview data and literature on the American Dream, American individualism, Neoliberalism, and New Age beliefs, the thesis explains how the linguistic characteristics of the genre of self-improvement books reflect these ideologies. The dataset for the study is 40 self-improvement books, selected on the basis of a set of criteria that I developed. Subsets were selected from the main dataset for specific analyses. The text analysis part of the study is supplemented by interview data from specialist informants, who come from three categories: readers of the genre, non-readers of the genre, and authors of the genre. Move analysis identifies obligatory rhetorical moves and indicates that the main purposes of introduction chapters and about the author sections are persuading readers to read the book, and establishing credibility, respectively. Authors always persuade readers to read their books by listing reasons to read them. To demonstrate authors’ credibility, they refer v to their areas of expertise. Unlike the introduction chapters and about the author sections, the body chapters have more than one obligatory rhetorical move. The body chapters present the problem that readers potentially experience, present the authors’ message, recommend practical applications, and encourage readers to apply them. From a genre perspective, the purpose of all the stories in my analysis is to illustrate the authors’ message. Register analysis, and drawing on interview data, suggests that authors use the personal pronoun you, imperative clauses, and questions to engage readers. The abundance of the personal pronoun you suggests that self-improvement books are a reader-oriented genre. The analysis of the imperative clauses using Halliday’s process types suggests that the main way to improve our lives, the authors recommend, is to change how we think. Finally, my thesis shows that the social purpose of self-improvement books is to help potential readers improve their lives, and the approach of improving one’s life has an individualistic orientation. vi Acknowledgements “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Psalm 56:3 NKJV Firstly, I would like to thank the Lord for His faithfulness and providence in this PhD journey. I am deeply grateful to have Dr Jean Parkinson and Dr Elaine Vine as my supervisors. I would like to thank them for the time they spent on reading and commenting on the drafts of this thesis, and the fortnightly meetings we had for the past three and a half years. They have taught me valuable lessons of life: the importance of reflection, the value of humility, and “this is not a perfect world.” They reminded me that writing up the thesis is ideally not the “ultimate” goal of a PhD, rather it is what I have learned in the process. I would like to acknowledge my research participants for their time and insights. I would like to particularly thank the self-improvement authors in America who willingly participated in the Skype interview despite the time zone difference. I would like to thank Victoria University of Wellington who generously funded my studies with the Victoria Doctoral Scholarship. I would also like to thank the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies for providing a supportive environment. My thanks go to Associate Professor Meredith Marra for bouncing ideas with me. Thanks to my officemate, Jay Woodhams, for the engaging discussions we had, both academic and non-academic, and for the weekly squash sessions at the court. I would like to thank Dr Kieran File for discussing the concept of genre with me at the initial stage of my study, and Dr Jackie Yeoh for encouraging me when I am doubtful of my ability. I would also like to thank Kirsten Reid from Student Learning for being a sounding board. I would not have pursued this degree without the encouragement of my Master’s research supervisor, Associate Professor Mohamad Hassan Zakaria. vii I would also like to acknowledge and thank my examiners - Professor John Swales, Dr Ian Bruce and Dr Keith Comer - for reading my thesis and providing insightful comments. Thanks also to Nick Field for your prayers and friendship. I would especially thank a very special friend, Mark Moore, for being a father figure to me. I would also like to thank George and Irene Ross for being my New Zealand family, and to Jude Murdoch for taking interest in my study and providing an outsider’s perspective. I would like to thank Rev. Allister Lane for accepting me as I am and praying for me when my world seems confusing. I would also like to thank my friends who were with me through the ups and downs of my PhD journey: Stephen Caughley, Benjamin Ching, David Jones, Pakjira Leelertphan, Douglas Meyer, Alvin Ngai, Alyssa Ong, Will Quinn, Allen Xu, and those whose names are not mentioned here. I would like to thank my students, particularly my choir students in Malaysia, for enriching my life; to Tan Seoah Chee and Wan Nor Maizan Wan Ismail for being very supportive colleagues in Malaysia; and to Lee Ai Leng for supporting my decision to further my studies. Finally, I would like to specially thank my mother, Tan Yeap Wah, for believing in my dreams and constantly praying for me; to my sister, Ruby Koay, for keeping me updated with mum’s health; and Aunty Lian Choo for keeping mum company while I was away. I am grateful to my away-from-home family, Ooi Yew Chai, Loh Bee Gek, Ooi Shaw Yang, Ooi Lih Yang and Ooi Kaylene for their Facebook messages that kept me going. viii Contents List of tables ............................................................................................................... xv List of figures............................................................................................................ xvii Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background of the study .............................................................................. 1 1.2 Aims of the study ......................................................................................... 2 1.3 Thesis overview ........................................................................................... 3 Literature review ......................................................................................... 5 2.1 Self-improvement books ............................................................................... 5 2.2 Genre theory ............................................................................................... 7 Genre ............................................................................................... 8 Traditions of genre studies ............................................................... 10 Moves and steps .............................................................................. 13 Obligatory, typical and optional moves ............................................ 16 Organisation of moves .................................................................... 18 Move structure .................................................................... 19 Overall structure .................................................................. 20 Rhetorical structure ............................................................. 20 Typical organisation of moves ......................................................... 22 Schematic structure .............................................................. 22 Distinctive structural pattern ................................................ 23 Generic structure ................................................................. 24 Move analysis