تداولية الاقناع في الاعلانات التجارية في مجلات امريكية مختارة == Pragmatics of Persuasion in the Commercial Advertisements in Selected American Magazines
Author name:
الاء عادل جعفر الموسوي
Supervisor name:
ميساء كاظم حسين جبرين
Key words:
- Pragmatics
- persuasion
- commercial advertisements
- American magazines
Abstract:
‘Persuasion’ is a multidisciplinary concept, that is, it can be defined, based on a context, from different fields, such as philosophy, rhetoric, and psychology. In this study, however, persuasion is defined from a pragmatic perspective since the language of advertisements is used in an artistic manner to achieve its purpose (i.e., persuasion). To the researcher’s best knowledge, no previous study has been made to examine pragmatics of persuasion in the commercial advertisements in selected American magazines. Hence, the need for this study comes into existence. The method followed in this study is a qualitative descriptive one, through which pragmatics of persuasion is examined in 47 commercial advertisements in two American magazines, namely, Life and People. An eclectic model is developed for the purpose of analysis, which consists of four components: Searle’s (1969, 1979) speech act theory, Grice’s (1975) maxims, Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness strategies, and Sperber and Wilson’s (2004) communicative principle. The two main research questions are: (1) How is pragmatics of persuasion achieved in the commercial advertisements in American magazines? (2) What are the pragmatic strategies employed to achieve persuasion in the commercial advertisements in American magazines? In accordance with these two questions, this study aims to examine the concept of ‘pragmatics of persuasion’ in the commercial advertisements in American magazines. This study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is an introduction, which includes statement of the problem, the aim and objectives, the procedures, the limits, the methodology, and significance of the study. Chapter two presents the literature review of the concept of ‘persuasion’ and how it differs from its other related concepts. It also presents the literature review of theories of pragmatics used to study persuasion. Moreover, it presents an overview of the commercial advertisements, marketing, American consumer culture, and American magazines. It ends with previous related studies. Chapter three presents the methodology, including the research design, collection and description of the data, and the eclectic model of the analysis, in addition to the analytical procedures. Chapter four includes the analysis of he data, findings, and discussions. Finally, chapter five encompasses a number of conclusions, recommendations, and suggestions for further studies. This study concludes that persuasion is achieved in the commercial advertisements in American magazines through the employment of pragmatic strategies.
