THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHARACTERS IN THE ZOO STORY: A SYSTEMIC-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

Abstract

This paper seeks to show how the interaction between the characters Peter and Jerry takes place in the play The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee, taking systemic-functional linguistics as a theoretical contribution. The exchanges of information and goods and services and the use of modality in the characters’ dialogues were analyzed and quantified, as well as the types of process associated with each one in the performance rubrics, in order to observe the construction of these characters and the dynamics of their interaction throughout the play. The accounting of the functions attributed to Finite showed that the characters gave priority to locating what they expressed in time and space; however, modality and modulation cases elucidated a strong contrast in the personality of both, reflecting their different socioeconomic conditions. Finally, the physical manifestations of the, through the quantification of the types of processes associated with them, served to show the attitudes of each one in relation to their counterpart, attitudes not always manifested verbally, hence the utility of observing the processes that guide the text rubrics. This paper seeks to elucidate some properties of the experiential and interpersonal metafunctions and to show how they can be applied to the analysis of the literary text, revealing not only formal aspects of the text but also the way the characters are constructed in relation to one another.