Structure and Characteristics of the Concept "Economic Headline" in German Linguaculture

Abstract

The research features an analysis of the headlines of economic articles published in German periodicals after the global economic crisis. The paper gives a theoretical basis of the conceptual nature of headlines and characterizes the phenomenon as a textual linguacultural concept. The subject of the present research is verbal representations of the concept "economic headline" to be found in German economic media discourse. The paper focuses on the description of the process of headline cognition that the recipient performs by interpreting the foreknowledge inherent to a headline. The analysis revealed different cognitive strategies of text producers and the variation in the verbal content of headlines. All the headings of economic articles published in German periodicals actualize the concept of "economic heading". The frequent inclusion of headline complex elements into the process of text cognition is typical for modern economic headlines. Their multilevel structure allows keeping the maximum information content as it provides the recipient with the necessary foreknowledge concerning the subject area of the article. This method accelerates the headline cognition process and results from the fact that the recipient has no time to read the whole article. The established norms of headline construction in German journalism reflect the cognition of economic reality in German linguaculture.