Trying To Make The Data Fit The Theory

 Martin, Matthiessen & Painter (2010: 295):

Solidarity is also inter-modally construed – imagically, mateship is emphasised, as he faces us directly, in his casual dress, looking us in the eye with a smile.  Verbally the bonds have more to do with regional pride in the accomplishments of the Bondi Boys; graduation dramatises events, positioning us to appreciate all the more the historical significance of the rescue. FitzSimons' elegiac tones confirm us in the heritage he shares.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, this is simply trying to make the data fit the theory. Firstly, no argument has been offered as to why a photograph of a smiling man, in casual dress, looking at the camera should enhance a relation of mateship with male and female viewers of the photograph. Consider a similar picture of a politician being viewed by people who disapprove of him. 

Secondly, since the authors associate solidarity with 'horizontal' relations, this claim contradicts their previous claim that the text presents the columnist as authoritative, thereby placing him in a 'vertical' (power) relation with the reader.

[2] To be clear, experiential meaning is construed (language as reflection); interpersonal meaning is enacted (language as action).

[3] Here the authors have again switched from the meanings instantiated in the text to what are claimed to be its effects on the reader.

[4] To be clear, 'elegiac' means mournful or sorrowful. A read of FitzSimons' text reveals that its tone is not mournful or sorrowful. Moreover, this assessment is also inconsistent with the authors' previous observations (p289):

So instead of highlighting the emotional reactions of people, or their character, FitzSimons invites us to share attitudes to things (both concrete, like the ocean, and abstract, like history). …

For FitzSimons then it is the significance of the moment that matters, not directly the character or emotional reactions of the lifesavers or the people they rescue. In this respect, his stance is more that of a historian than narrator, since in narrative proper we typically use both inscribed affect and judgement to engage reader/listeners in our tale.