Navigating Eros and Thanatos: a genre and appraisal analysis of Virginia Woolf’s suicide note and John Keats’ last letter
This study aims to analyze Freudian life and death drives, commonly referred to as Eros and Thanatos, through the lens of systemic functional linguistics, particularly focusing on the interpersonal meaning-making process. The texts selected for this analysis are Virginia Woolf's suicide n...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2025
|
| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25963/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25963/1/Gema_25_1_12.pdf |
| Summary: | This study aims to analyze Freudian life and death drives, commonly referred to as Eros and
Thanatos, through the lens of systemic functional linguistics, particularly focusing on the
interpersonal meaning-making process. The texts selected for this analysis are Virginia Woolf's
suicide note and John Keats's last letter to his friend Charles Brown. These letters are significant
as they were composed shortly before the authors' deaths—Woolf by suicide and Keats due to
tuberculosis—providing a poignant context for examining their expressions of life and death.The
analysis is framed within the genre of letters, which allows for a nuanced understanding of the
contextual factors influencing each writer's expression of Eros and Thanatos. By evaluating these
texts, the study seeks to uncover shared values surrounding these drives (Freud, 1961) using
appraisal theory, an extension of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) that focuses on
interpersonal meaning (Martin & White, 2005). The research is specifically limited to the attitude
system of appraisal, enabling an exploration of interpersonal attitudinal markers between the
writers and their recipients. This text analysis employs descriptive and interpretive techniques,
connecting interpretations with the three major systems of attitude: Affect, Judgment, and
Appreciation. This framework will facilitate a comparison of the emotional landscapes reflected
in the letters, highlighting both similarities and differences in how Woolf and Keats confront their
impending deaths. The study concludes that life and death drives are instinctual forces shaped by
both physical and mental health contexts. By situating these texts within their letter genre, the
analysis provides a richer understanding of how Eros and Thanatos manifest in personal
correspondence at critical moments in life. |
|---|