I am beginning a series of posts blogging through the usage of the historical present (HP) in the Synoptics with the usages in Mark providing the baseline of comparison. I contend that the HP’s basic discourse function is to add prominence to a discontinuity that is naturally present in the context, making it stand out more. The assertions regarding the HP being used to highlight or “emphasize” an action or event that follows is based upon the discourse function of discontinuity markers in discourse, not some special function of the HP. The posts that follow will compare how the synoptic traditions render the natural discontinuity that is present in the given context in order to gain broader insight into the discourse function of discontinuity.
Below is the key to the mark-up strategy that I will be using in the posts to identify various discourse features. Citations are provided for more background on the discourse feature in question. Chapter 2 of my Discourse Grammar is available here as part of a preview. Reported speeches are indented to better distinguish it from narrative proper.
Key for markup of discourse features in Synoptic gospels
[…] Below is my analysis of the Synoptic parallels of this pericope. I have identified the various factors that influence judgments about segmentation of the text. Remember, humans constantly are segmenting things into smaller chunks to facilitate processing and storing of the information. Choruses/refrains in songs or repetition of themes helps us know when we are transitioning from one verse/movement to the next one. Paragraphing and bulleting in modern written text help us know where the writer wants us to break the text and guides our organization of it. In Greek, most of the discourse devices I cite would have functioned properly in either an oral or written tradition. The key to the markup scheme is available here. […]