Friday, February 16, 2007

Functions in conversational structure


There is an exchange in the movie called The Motorcycle Diaries. This is the text of that short scene:

Migrant Woman: Are you looking for work?
Che: No, we are not.
Migrant Woman: No? Then why do you travel?
Che: We travel just to travel.
Migrant Woman: Bless you, blessed be your travels.

If we assign a conversational function to each of the exchanges we get something like this:

Migrant Woman: Are you looking for work? (Inquiring)
Che: No, we are not. (Denying)
Migrant Woman: No? (Expressing Surprise) Then why do you travel? (Probing)
Che: We travel just to travel. (Declaring)
Migrant Woman: Bless you, blessed be your travels. (Wellwishing)

Stripping away the words, but letting the functional structure of the exchange remain, we can build new conversations like:

Woman sitting at reception desk: Are you the sound technician? (Inquiring)
Man in overalls: No, I’m not. (Denying)
Woman sitting at reception desk: You’re not? (Expressing Surprise) Well, why are you here? (Probing)
Man in overalls: I’m here to take the exam. (Declaring)
Woman sitting at reception desk: Oh, well then, good luck. (Wellwishing)

Or:

Man in panda costume: Are you in the parade, too? (Inquiring)
Man in police uniform: No, I’m not. (Denying)
Man in panda costume: Oh, you’re not? (Expressing Surprise) Then why are dressed like a cop? (Probing)
Man in police uniform: I AM a cop. (Declaring)
Man in panda costume: Oh, well, have a good one, officer. (Wellwishing)

Question: In this litigious age, is a script writer plagiarizing when he or she copies an underlying functional structure?
:-o

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