Advertising on television : a comparative sociosemiological analysis

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to provide an analysis of advertising on television based on a comparative approach to textual contents and structures which attempts to identify some of the ways in which semantic, pragmatic and textual elements interact and exert mutual influence. The main focus is on the way in which advertisements activate specific fields of discourse (the semantic aspect) by engaging the viewer in an interpretive activity (the pragmatic aspect) through specific visual and aural elements (the textual aspect). Preliminary to the analysis is a brief review of some of the philosophical and socio linguistic positions on textual meaning (Part 1). Particular attention is paid to the main contributions to a pragmatically oriented textual analysis, including Halliday's concept of social semiotics, which has been especially useful for the definition of the theoretical framework for the analysis. In Part 2 the issue of the specificity of audio-visual language, as a language that combines different signifying systems (sounds, words, images, and music) is explicitly addressed: one of the aims of the research is indeed to avoid the transference of models of analysis from written or verbal to audiovisual texts, and to devise a method of analysis consistent with the specific character of the object of inquiry. Two main imperative have guided the analysis (Part 3): the need to escape both textual and social determinism, while taking into account the way in which textual elements represent and address specific social situations; and the need to consider the context of advertising discourse, in order to avoid a text-bound approach. For this reason advertisements have been approached within a comparative framework. The main characters of the two broadcasting systems have been also considered (Appendix). The data for the analysis consist of British and Italian advertisements video recorded in peak time from October 1988 to March 1989; the main focus being on car advertisements and on transnational campaigns. The other referential value of advertisements has been emphasized, with p articular regard to the repertoire of social commonplaces (or topoi) that bear upon textual production and interpretation. The comparative framework is crucial for differentiating social conventions from what in a mere textual perspective may appear as neutral representations. The aim of this thesis is not to exhaust the argument but to develop an original a pp roach to televisual texts which is intended to complement rather than exclude other approaches.