Tenor Analysis of Galatians

Chapter 6 Tenor Analysis of Galatians

The final component of register to be analyzed in this study is tenor. The previ- ous chapters investigate the mode and field of discourse, by analyzing the tex- tual and ideational meanings of the text, respectively. I identified the ways in which Paul structures his letter to the Galatians in terms of cohesion, themati- zation, and prominence, and then identify the main ideas and subject matter of the letter through analysis of the transitivity network and lexis. Tenor, however, is realized by the interpersonal metafunction, which involves how lan- guage is used in the discourse through speech functions (linguistic factors) and the social roles of the Participants in the discourse (extra-linguistic, or social, factors). Both of these are analyzed in this chapter, with a concluding summary of the tenor of this letter.

1 Speech Functions

I noted in Chapter 3 that speech functions operate at two levels: the semantic stratum, based on clause type, and the contextual stratum, based on its use in the co-text and context. Identifying the semantic function of a clause is much more straight-forward, as it is based on form (or more specifically, clause type); identifying its contextual function, however, is open to interpretation based on the co-text and context. The contextual function describes how Paul uses the semantic function of a clause to achieve what he wants to achieve. So in this analysis, the semantic function of a primary clause is identified first, followed by a description of the contextual function(s) in each sub-section, answering the question of what the writer (Paul) is doing.

1.1 Galatians 1:1–5—The Letter Opening There are only verbless clauses in the opening of this letter; thus, the speech functions (of the two primary clauses in this letter opening) are all simple statements. The contextual function of both of these simple statements, however, is simply identifying the writer (Paul) and recipients (the Galatians) of the letter and sending them a standard Christian greeting.

1.2 The Omitted Thanksgiving Section After the standard opening of the letter, Paul omits a thanksgiving section and immediately transitions to the body.1 Since a majority of Paul’s letters (includ- ing the authentic and so-called deutero-Pauline letters) contain a thanksgiving section (e.g., Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Eph 1:16; Phil 1:3; Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2; 2 Thess 1:3; 2 Tim 1:3; Phlm 4), this omission is significant. In general, the omission of an expected element of a social interaction (such as a letter or even an in-person discourse) conveys an interpersonal meaning as much as—or sometimes even more than—the presence of an element. Take for example a situation where a beggar asks a passerby, “Sir, excuse me, can I have some change?” The passerby reaches into his pocket to give a handful of change to the beggar, saying, “Ok sure, here you go.” The beggar rises, receives the change, and immediately walks away without saying a word. The expected omission of a “thank you” or any other response probably communicates that the beggar was not very grate- ful for the change that the passerby had given him, or another possible reason for not responding in an expected way. There are several possible reasons for Paul’s omission of a thanksgiving section in his letter to the Galatians. It is often viewed as one of his earlier letters (if not the earliest), so one might conjecture that a thanksgiving section was not a Pauline convention at the time of writing. But since it already seems to have been a convention outside of the Pauline corpus, and there is no evidence that Paul began to use the conventional thanksgiving section after writing his letter to the Galatians, this explanation does not seem likely.2 Another explanation might be that the urgency of the subject matter compels Paul to skip a thanksgiving and dive right to the pressing matter.3 There is a sense of urgency to be sure, but this omission seems to mean more than simply urgency. The most likely scenario is that Paul’s assessment of the situation at Galatia was so dismal—he seems to take the situation personally (see below)—that he found nothing to be thankful for, or at least he did not think communicating

1 Not only do most of Paul’s letters (or letters attributed to Paul) contain a thanksgiving section, many documentary papyri contain thanksgiving formulae. See e.g. Jeffrey T. Reed, “Are Paul’s Thanksgivings ‘Epistolary’?,” JSNT 61 (1996): 87–99; John Lee White, “Epistolary Formulas and Clichés in Greek Papyrus Letters,” SBL Seminar Papers 2 (1978): 297 (289–319); Peter T. O’Brien Introductory Thanksgivings in the Letters of Paul (NovTSup 49; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1977); Peter Arzt-Grabner, “Paul’s Letter Thanksgiving,” in Paul and the Ancient Letter Form (ed. Stanley E. Porter and Sean A. Adams; PAST 6; Leiden, Brill: 2010), 129–158, although Artz-Grabner views the thanksgiving within the body of the letter as an introduction to it. 2 Artz-Grabner, “Paul’s Letter Thanksgiving,” 129–58. Cf. Bruce, Galatians, 80. 3 E.g., Bruce (Galatians, 80) suggests that Paul’s omits a thanksgiving section because of his sense of “overmastering urgency” of the situation at Galatia. But I agree with Porter (Apostle Paul, 201 n. 46) that there seems to be more to Paul’s omission than just urgency.