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【摘要】本文试图通过运用多种语言学理论对电影《大眼睛》的主题曲《I Can Fly》歌词进行文体学分析，从而揭示这首歌词的文体学特点，以及这种特点对表现电影主题的作用。
【关键词】文体学 词汇意义 语篇语义 概念隐喻 女性主义
【Abstract】This paper makes a stylistic analysis of foregrounding in I Can Fly on the basis of lexical meanings， discourse semantics and conceptual metaphor.
【Key words】stylistic analysis； foregrounding； lexical meaning； discourse semantics； conceptual metaphor； feminism
1. Introduction
I Can Fly is a 2014 American song written and performed by Lana Del Rey. It’s the theme song of Big Eyes， an American biographical film directed by Tim Burton. The film is about how Margaret Keane， an American artist who was famous for her paintings of children with extremely big eyes， had grown from a weak housewife who unwillingly let her husband take credit of all her phenomenally successful and popular paintings from 1950s to 1960s， into an independent and strong woman who could stand out and reveal her identity as the real painter of her works to the world. It is believed to be one of the best feminism films of 2014， according to many film critics.
I Can Fly is played at the end of the film， when Margaret Keane finally won the lawsuit against her husband in court. As the theme song of the film， I Can Fly successfully explicates and deepens the feminism theme of the film by focusing on Margaret’s mental progress from the beginning to the end of the story. Lana Del Rey， its writer and performer， has received a Golden Globe nomination for this song.
This paper aims at using all kinds of linguistic tools to make a stylistic analysis of I Can Fly’ s foregrounding at formal and discourse level， and find out how such foregrounding has supported the feminism theme of the song. In addition， how foregrounding at all levels has helped this song serve better as the theme song of Big Eyes will also be discussed.
2. Analyses of Stylistic Features and Foregrounding
2.1 Lexical Features
According to Leech （1981）， lexical meaning can be further divided into seven types of meanings： conceptual meaning， connotative meaning， social meaning， affective meaning， reflected meaning， collocative meaning and thematic meaning. Among all these meanings， the connotative， affective and social meanings of some words in I Can Fly are very profound.
For example， in the sentence “I was crazy on fire waiting to fly”， the term “on fire” has a social meaning that is closely related to purification and rebirth in Christianity. In the film， after believing in god and gaining power from him， the heroine is eager to get rid of her old life which is filled with lies and begin a new life as an independent， honest woman. By using the term “on fire”， her determination and strong will are shown to the audience. As for connotative meaning， the word “summer” in “You had me caged up like a bird in mid-summer”， “I was painting in the garden like a ghost in Mid-July”，“I had bright wishes in the summer”，and “Your lies were hard kisses in the summer”often reminds people of “bright”， “warm”， and “liveliness”， while the real life of the heroine was neither bright nor colorful until she won the law suit against her husband. Such contrasts successfully fore grounded the difficulties encountering the heroine and her struggle. In addition， the word “fight” in “I was fighting for my art， fighting with my lover” has very complicated affective meaning. The first “fight” shows the heroine’s determination to protect her rights as an artist， while the second “fight” has a quite ironical tone， expressing the heroine’s disappointment of her husband and her melancholy for their dead love. 2.2 Discourse Features
2.2.1 Discourse semantics of I Can Fly
Martin and Rose （2007） identify six sets of resources for making meaning as text， and these sets of meaning are known as discourse systems. The six discourse systems are： appraisal， ideation， conjunction， identification， periodicity， and negotiation.
The appraisal system focuses on evaluation. J.R. Martin and P.R.R. White （2005） regionalized appraisal into three interacting domains： attitude， engagement and graduation， and attitude can be further divided into affect， judgment and appreciation.
The lyrics of I Can Fly can be regarded as the monologue of the heroine， and many of her feelings and attitudes are shown in the lyrics. The line“I had a dream that I was fine” is an example of affect. It shows the mixed feelings of the heroine： Although she used the words “I was fine”， she had gained such feelings in her dream， so her real feelings in real life might be exactly the opposite. There are also many examples of Judgment. The line“I wasn’t crazy， I was divine” ， which is repeated many times in the lyrics， is the heroine’s judgment of herself. When she decided to sue her husband for having taken credit of all her works， many people thought she was crazy. This judgment expresses her confidence to prove her value in front of the world. She was no longer a poor single mother， but a holy fighter fighting for her art. The lines“I’ve got things to tell you like I know that you’re a liar” and“Your words cut like a knife in butter” are judgments of the heroine’s husband， indicating that he was a big liar and the heroine was really disappointed with and angry about him.
2.2.2 Conceptual metaphors used in I Can Fly
According to Lakoff
【关键词】文体学 词汇意义 语篇语义 概念隐喻 女性主义
【Abstract】This paper makes a stylistic analysis of foregrounding in I Can Fly on the basis of lexical meanings， discourse semantics and conceptual metaphor.
【Key words】stylistic analysis； foregrounding； lexical meaning； discourse semantics； conceptual metaphor； feminism
1. Introduction
I Can Fly is a 2014 American song written and performed by Lana Del Rey. It’s the theme song of Big Eyes， an American biographical film directed by Tim Burton. The film is about how Margaret Keane， an American artist who was famous for her paintings of children with extremely big eyes， had grown from a weak housewife who unwillingly let her husband take credit of all her phenomenally successful and popular paintings from 1950s to 1960s， into an independent and strong woman who could stand out and reveal her identity as the real painter of her works to the world. It is believed to be one of the best feminism films of 2014， according to many film critics.
I Can Fly is played at the end of the film， when Margaret Keane finally won the lawsuit against her husband in court. As the theme song of the film， I Can Fly successfully explicates and deepens the feminism theme of the film by focusing on Margaret’s mental progress from the beginning to the end of the story. Lana Del Rey， its writer and performer， has received a Golden Globe nomination for this song.
This paper aims at using all kinds of linguistic tools to make a stylistic analysis of I Can Fly’ s foregrounding at formal and discourse level， and find out how such foregrounding has supported the feminism theme of the song. In addition， how foregrounding at all levels has helped this song serve better as the theme song of Big Eyes will also be discussed.
2. Analyses of Stylistic Features and Foregrounding
2.1 Lexical Features
According to Leech （1981）， lexical meaning can be further divided into seven types of meanings： conceptual meaning， connotative meaning， social meaning， affective meaning， reflected meaning， collocative meaning and thematic meaning. Among all these meanings， the connotative， affective and social meanings of some words in I Can Fly are very profound.
For example， in the sentence “I was crazy on fire waiting to fly”， the term “on fire” has a social meaning that is closely related to purification and rebirth in Christianity. In the film， after believing in god and gaining power from him， the heroine is eager to get rid of her old life which is filled with lies and begin a new life as an independent， honest woman. By using the term “on fire”， her determination and strong will are shown to the audience. As for connotative meaning， the word “summer” in “You had me caged up like a bird in mid-summer”， “I was painting in the garden like a ghost in Mid-July”，“I had bright wishes in the summer”，and “Your lies were hard kisses in the summer”often reminds people of “bright”， “warm”， and “liveliness”， while the real life of the heroine was neither bright nor colorful until she won the law suit against her husband. Such contrasts successfully fore grounded the difficulties encountering the heroine and her struggle. In addition， the word “fight” in “I was fighting for my art， fighting with my lover” has very complicated affective meaning. The first “fight” shows the heroine’s determination to protect her rights as an artist， while the second “fight” has a quite ironical tone， expressing the heroine’s disappointment of her husband and her melancholy for their dead love. 2.2 Discourse Features
2.2.1 Discourse semantics of I Can Fly
Martin and Rose （2007） identify six sets of resources for making meaning as text， and these sets of meaning are known as discourse systems. The six discourse systems are： appraisal， ideation， conjunction， identification， periodicity， and negotiation.
The appraisal system focuses on evaluation. J.R. Martin and P.R.R. White （2005） regionalized appraisal into three interacting domains： attitude， engagement and graduation， and attitude can be further divided into affect， judgment and appreciation.
The lyrics of I Can Fly can be regarded as the monologue of the heroine， and many of her feelings and attitudes are shown in the lyrics. The line“I had a dream that I was fine” is an example of affect. It shows the mixed feelings of the heroine： Although she used the words “I was fine”， she had gained such feelings in her dream， so her real feelings in real life might be exactly the opposite. There are also many examples of Judgment. The line“I wasn’t crazy， I was divine” ， which is repeated many times in the lyrics， is the heroine’s judgment of herself. When she decided to sue her husband for having taken credit of all her works， many people thought she was crazy. This judgment expresses her confidence to prove her value in front of the world. She was no longer a poor single mother， but a holy fighter fighting for her art. The lines“I’ve got things to tell you like I know that you’re a liar” and“Your words cut like a knife in butter” are judgments of the heroine’s husband， indicating that he was a big liar and the heroine was really disappointed with and angry about him.
2.2.2 Conceptual metaphors used in I Can Fly
According to Lakoff