及物性视角下自闭症主题英文绘本的行为表征与认知建构——以My Brother Charlie和The Girl Who Thought in Pictures的对比为例

Behavioral Representation and Cognitive Construction of Autism in English Picture Books from the Transitivity Perspective—A Comparative Study of My Brother Charlie and The Girl Who Thought in Pictures

摘要: 文章基于系统功能语言学的及物性理论(Transitivity)，对两部关于自闭症主题的英文绘本My Brother Charlie (MBC)和The Girl Who Thought in Pictures (GWTP)进行了对比分析。研究采用混合研究方法，建立了“行为”与“认知”两个子语料库，统计了不同过程类型(Process Types)的分布。研究发现，MBC主要通过物质过程描绘自闭症儿童的外部行为，并借助关系过程和心理过程将其融入家庭互动中，体现“关系理解型”逻辑；而GWTP则侧重于通过心理过程和隐喻性的关系过程，将自闭症的认知特征建构为独特优势，体现“天赋赋能型”逻辑。文章旨在揭示绘本如何通过语言机制构建自闭症的意义，并为相关绘本的创作与教育应用提供参考。

Abstract: Based on the transitivity theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics, this article conducts a comparative analysis of two English picture books on autism—My Brother Charlie (MBC) and The Girl Who Thought in Pictures (GWTP). Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study establishes two sub-corpora focusing on “behavior” and “cognition,” respectively, and examines the distribution of different process types. Findings indicate that MBC primarily depicts the external behaviors of autistic children through material processes, integrating their inner worlds into family interactions through relational processes and mental processes, reflecting a “relationship-understanding” logic. In contrast, GWTP focuses on using mental processes and metaphorical relational processes to construct autism cognition as a distinctive strength, embodying a “talent-empowering” logic. The study aims to uncover how these picture books construct the meaning of autism through linguistic mechanisms and provide insights for the creation and educational application of related picture books.