The Ideological Manifestation of Transitivity Process: A Critical Stylistic Analysis

Ideology is a mental framework that is constructed, communicated, negotiated, andreproduced by means of language, including the transitivity process. As a typicalgrammatical phenomenon, the transitivity process is implied in four basic processes:relational, mental, material, and verbalization. The current paper detects the ideologicalimplication of these four processes in Walker’s novel The Color Purple, which deals withAfrican-American women’s persecution. The study aims to show how this concept isrepresented through the four categories of transitivity process. Additionally, it aims to revealthe ideological impact of the transitivity process in Walker’s novel. The extracts that clearlyshow men's oppression of women are analyzed using Simpson's (۱۹۹۳) transitivity model,which is included in Jeffries' (۲۰۱۰) framework. The researchers find out that Alice Walkeruses the four categories of transitivity with different circulation to refer to black women’soppression, which is implemented by even those who belong to the same race (black).Furthermore, mental and material processes are primarily used to deliver negative andcontradictory ideologies that accompany women's percussion. These ideologies are man’sdominance and woman’s submission. Moreover, relational and verbalization processes arededicated to offering a hint at women’s individuality and freedom. This in turn reflectsWalker’s optimism and hope that women’s percussion will soon have no survival in theirsociety.

Keywords:

Transitivity , Alice Walker , Oppression , Ideology , Critical Stylistic