Corpus-derived grammatical subtext and the origins of political correctness in Kenworth’s dramatic adaptation of Orwell’s Animal Farm
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/analiff.2026.38.1.4Keywords:
collocation, semantic prosody, insincerity, corpus-derived subtext, grammatical subtext, quasi-propositional variables, Contextual Prosodic Theory, corpus stylistics, Louw, OrwellAbstract
In his seminal paper on semantic prosody [SP], Louw (1993) dwells on the deviations from the language norm, proposing that breaches of SP must amount to either authorial irony or inadvertent insincerity. While SP was initially studied from the point of view of lexical collocation, Louw’s later work focused on the study of grammatical subtext, but never specifically on its potential to point up irony or insincerity in discourse. This paper connects Louw’s understanding of inadvertent insincerity with the notion of political correctness in the context of Kenworth’s dramatic adaptation of Orwell’s Animal Farm, and posits three hypotheses: that grammatical subtext will account for implied negative attitudes in texts (H1); that grammatical subtext will explain hidden rhetorical mechanisms behind overt negative attitudes in texts (H2); and that language suffering under the restrictions of political correctness may be qualified as forced (H3). The methodology deployed relies on Louw’s defining grammatical subtext as the sum of the most frequent lexical variables of a grammar string (Louw, 2010). After the study was properly contextualised by interpreting the role of grammar in an Orwellian society, an excerpt from the dramatic adaptation was chosen in which one of the main characters admits to being manipulative and then engages in manipulation. On the basis of two wordings found in the excerpt, the paper defends the first two hypotheses. As for the third, it was found that defending it requires a different context of situation. Ultimately, the findings suggest that it is possible to prove manipulative intent on the basis of lexical collocates of a grammar string, and, additionally, that grammatical subtext alone may be the basis of the rhetorical strategy of faulty emotional appeal. Both findings may be taken as evidence of and as an improvement on the initial speculations of Louw.
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