7 Rhetorische Figuren und ihre Funktionalität

Abstract

Since the beginning of the classification efforts of rhetorical figures made by ancient scholars there has been no general accord on how to draw formally founded lines between subclasses of figures of speech. This has consequences for dealing with rhetorical expressions in the area of persuasive communication. Therefore, this article tries to show how the use of rhetorical modes of expression can be grasped from a functional point of view as a twofold text strategy: in addition to advertising strategies for promoting goods and services depending on text internal aspects a further function of promoting brand identities as part of cross media integrated communication used in one and the same text shows the multifunctionality of rhetorical figures. The findings have consequences for dealing with form and function of rhetorical figures. In addition, the article shows in which way marketing can make use of rhetorical figures of speech on a more fundamental level as part of an integrated concept of branding communication that goes beyond mere advertising strategies.