A Discussion of the Representation of Masculinity and Femininity in ...

perhaps using a corpus analysis based methodology in order to replicate Stubbs’
research. If larger amounts of text were used or perhaps even the handbooks in their
entirety were studied, it might be necessary to enlarge on van Leeuwen’s frameworks in
respect of their attention to the textural level of representation, as Palmer (1998) has
argued. Palmer elaborates on van Leeuwen’s analysis of the phrase/clause level of
representation in texts by drawing on Hoey’s analysis of ‘matching relations’ for a “fuller
understanding of discourse organization” (Hoey, 1983: 113). In this way connections
across a larger body of text can be observed by the critical analyst through the text
producer’s (unconscious) use of repetition or paraphrasing for example. Thus, as
Palmer argues, “repetition can form associations between social actors at a level which
does not rely on phrase/clause level association” (1998: 33), as van Leeuwen’s 1995
and 1996 frameworks do. In the present study, however, the use of small extracted
excerpts of data meant that a phrase/clause level analysis was more than sufficient, as
connections between social actors could be observed through van Leeuwen’s discussion
of ‘distillation’. However, I can see the benefits of incorporating elements of Hoey’s
method of textual analysis into van Leeuwen’s approaches in future pieces of research
which involve large data samples.
Baden-Powell wrote in the preface to ‘Scouting for Boys’ that “evolution and
reconstruction of our social system is in the air, but none can tell exactly what is coming
as a result of the war” (1919: 5). It is on an ironic note therefore that I conclude this
study, as Baden-Powell predicted major changes would affect the ‘social system’, but
could not have predicted that such changes would culminate in making his discoursal
representations of boys and girls quite so contentious and old-fashioned. Both ‘Scouting
for Boys’ and ‘Girl Guiding’ represent a period of time in which Britain’s fear of losing its
imperial identity incited a discourse that entailed the very active construction of gender
identities, and is no greater exemplified than in the handbooks of 1919.
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