Representations of Ethos as Constructed by Text-Image Synergy in a Corporate Website

Abstract

Visual-verbal blends which have become “a virtual shop window” for communicating corporate ethos are common features of websites. It is assumed that the Text-Image synergy in the website would contribute to constructing the representations of the three Ethos Dimensions: Caring, Competence and Trustworthiness. Hence, the study attempts to explore the representations of such ethos dimensions as constructed by visual-verbal synergy. The data of the study are 30 Text-Image Showcases - a framed display window situated at the center of the webpage - collected from the website of Credit Agricole Egypt. Drawing on the analysis frameworks of Martinec and Salway (2005), and Kong (2006), text-image synergy are identified through determining (a) Status, where reference is made to visual transitivity system (Kress and Leeuwen, 2006) and grammatical transitivity (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014); (b) Text-Image Logico-Semantic relations: Expansion (Elaboration, Extension, and Elaboration), and Projection, based on Halliday and Matthiessen (2014); and (c) Metaphorical Nature of the Text-Image Relation, i.e. verbo-pictorial metaphors where the picture is the source and the text is the target. .