Commercial Discourses Research Articles

From “hairpins” to “flowers”: feminist translation criticism of The Flowers of War

ABSTRACT Chinese novels by women writers are underrepresented in English. Even when translated, the original woman-focused experience is often underplayed due to various factors. This paper focuses on the English translation of Yan Geling’s Thirteen Hairpins of Jinling (translated as The Flowers of War) and examines how the portrayal of the female experience in the original story is underplayed in translation within a commercial discourse. This paper identifies a translation network enacted by the film adaptation of the novella operating on its English translation and proposes that other than the phallocentric translator, commercialized translation agents such as the film director and the publisher may also sideline female voices central to the narrative. Even the writer herself, at the request of the publisher, consciously or otherwise, attenuates the female voices in her writing to meet the target readers’ expectations. Based on the interpretative framework of gynocriticism, this paper analyzes the diminished presence of a female perspective in the English translation of The Flowers of War. It argues strongly for developing feminist translation criticism that applies gynocritic models to uncover and recover the loss of women’s experiences when a text is transplanted into another cultural context, especially from non-hegemonic languages into English.

Xanti Schawinsky and the Fascist Plebiscitary Elections of 1934: Everyday Design Practice and Visual Culture in Early 1930’s Italy

Abstract With Hitler’s seizure of power in 1933, the Bauhausler Xanti Schawinsky sought refuge in fascist Italy until the uncertain political situation and a career choice prompted him to move to the United States in 1936. Identified as the link between Italy and the Bauhaus, Schawinsky holds a special place in the history of Italian graphic design. However, his key role as promoter of modernism has not been subjected to scrutiny by looking at the work he did, networks he established, and design exchange he fostered. Schawinsky’s propaganda poster for the plebiscitary elections of 1934 is the focus of this article. Drawing on photographic documents and primary sources—including correspondences, archival documents, and autobiographic accounts—we seek to clarify the circumstances under which someone fleeing Nazi Germany eventually designed works that served as vehicles for fascist propaganda. To this end, we ground the poster “1934-XII SI” within the larger sociocultural and professional context, historical and political circumstances of early 1930’s Italy. We pair close visual analysis with a contextualized understanding to employ the poster as a case study to explore how fascist ideology was ingrained in everyday practice and show how the line between political and commercial discourses was blurred.

Local advertising practices in the San Miguel de Salcedo parish in Ecuador

In general, the research carried out by the different social sciences on advertising has privileged commercial discourses from the media and the mass media. Other forms of advertising communication are part of the culture and traditions of community contexts that have lacked analysis. Therefore, this article aims to describe the advertising practices that occur at the local level in the parish of San Miguel de Salcedo in Ecuador. The article corresponds to a qualitative, descriptive and reflective research, where a phenomenological and methodological design is applied, the data management is nourished by the application of instruments such as documentary literature review, participant observation and qualitative content analysis. The results address the forms of local advertising and its characteristics, both in community media as well as in squares and markets. Thus, it contributes to the knowledge on this topic, and at the same time constitutes a contribution to the scientific field of advertising from a local point of view.

Violence Hidden in the Commercials Discourse on Social Media Sociological Reading

The study aimed to answer the main study question: What are the impacts and forms of hidden violence in commercials discourse? The researchers used the qualitative approach, and a number of in-depth interviews were conducted, distributed into focus groups consisting of 25 individuals, five heads of families, and three specialists in management and marketing in the governorates of Bethlehem. The study reached the following conclusions: Violence hidden in the Commercials discourse appeared when the social media surfers were involved in social media and raising their volume of consumption, reaching waste on one hand and extravagance on the other, which resulted in anxiety as indicated by the interviewees. Moreover, the interviewees exhibited the extent to which they were impacted by violence hidden in commercial discourse when the latter permeated their social status, which is always navigating in search of their absent identity among the attractive commercial. The interviewees could not restrain themselves from moving through the commercial content. Furthermore, violence hidden in commercial discourse manifested itself in arousing the desire hidden inside them. They expressed that they oftentimes find themselves unconsciously involved in search of attractive trademarks and other competing ones. Besides, violence hidden in commercial discourse had an impact on the predominance of foreign products and the melting of domestic ones. It was noticeable that most of the interviewees purchased the foreign product at the expense of the domestic one. This creates a state of a feeling of contradiction between the status of fluid global values and the landmarks of a scattered national identity. Finally, the two researchers noticed that the power of violence hidden in commercial discourse had transcended the roles of many of the classical sociological variables. Therefore, the variable of controlling the electronic virtual context had a powerful impact that contributed to spreading consumption and the exercise of power on social media sites.

The evolution of the media discourse on the implementation of media companies' new digital business models

This paper examines the discourse of Spanish media outlets to justify changing their digital business model by introducing paywalls. For the last few years, this sector has been introducing new payment models to supplement its income from traditional digital advertising and other revenue models. This article analyzes the evolution of the informational and commercial discourse used by the media to overcome barriers to the implementation of new business models. The sample was defined as a linguistic corpus comprising all content related to the Spanish term for “paywall” from January 2008 to December 2021. Using software designed for this purpose, word association and co-occurrence analyses were carried out. A non-supervised clustering process was also used as the basis for thematic analysis.

The erasure of nature becoming the new normal: An ecolinguistic analysis of Food products’ commercial discourse of multinational companies

The present study deals with erasure in commercial advertisements of multinational companies. For this purpose, commercial advertisements for food products were selected. The data were collected from the official websites of the relevant companies. The study applied Stibbe’s (2015) theoretical framework to analyze the element of erasure. The study focused primarily on erasure. However, other aspects such as conviction and metaphor, have also been analyzed to erasure. The study results reveal that nature has been partially or entirely erased from commercial advertisements. Nature and its resources (cows and fruits) are presented in more abstract form, or there is no mention. The study also found that the advertisements underpin the stories of conviction, metaphor, and erasure. The study is significant because language does ideological work in how one thinks, writes, and talks about the ecosystem.

IMPLEMENTING CONVINCIVE AND PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES IN THE DISCOURSE OF COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS (based on commercial letters of South African companies)

The article justifies the relevance of the study of convinciveness and persuasiveness categories in the commercial discourse. An attempt is made to analyze the genre «сommercial letter» in accordance with discursive strategies and tactics that promote effective business communication in the commercial activities. Based on the pragma-linguistic analysis of the written business discourse, the typological characteristics of commercial letters are defined. The ways of implementing convincive and persuasive strategies based on commercial letters of South African companies are considered. Strategies and tactics of convinciveness and persuasiveness are studied in the terms of the speaker’s influential potential and argumentation. The types of argumentative strategies in the commercial transactions’ discourse are differentiated and their classification is given. Linguistic and paralinguistic means of implementing the speaker’s convincive and persuasive influence are described.

How sajiao (playing cute) wins forgiveness: The effectiveness of emojis in rebuilding trust through apology

Prior studies have found that emojis can contribute to rebuilding customers’ trust when after-sale staff apologize to them, but studies on the different types of emojis and their different levels of effectiveness in rebuilding trust are still needed. In this paper, we explore the different types and frequencies of emojis and their effectiveness in rebuilding trust based on commercial discourses. Our data are collected from conversations between after-sale staff and customers during Ali Trademanager after-sale service. We find three types of emojis frequently used when after-sale staff apologizing to customers: face-related emojis, gesture-related emojis, and object-related emojis. Moreover, face-related emojis are the most frequently used, as their nature is to express emotion and attitude. The most effective emojis are the whimper emoji and kiss emoji, which are used by after-sale staff for sajiao (literally, ‘playing cute’). On the other hand, we show that the least effective emojis are the sorry emoji and happy emoji, which are deemed insincere because they violate the quality maxim and quantity maxim in the Cooperative Principle. This paper thus contributes to understanding the nature and function of emojis in commercial communication.

Content Analysis on Sustainability Dimensions in DMOs’ Social Media Videos Advertising the World’s Most Visited Cities

Rapid population expansion and poorly managed economic growth, unprecedented anthropogenic climate changes, non-renewable natural resources depletion, environmental pollution, social inequity, and loss of cultural integrity generate a global context that calls for urgent adoption of a sustainable development approach in major industries, including tourism. Sustainable tourism development requires the mobilization of tourism stakeholders at all levels and on the demand side through actions related to the travel decision-making process. To stimulate attitude formation and adoption of sustainable tourist behaviors, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs)—the main organizations responsible for sustainable destination development—need to adopt sustainable-oriented communication actions when building the destination image. As tourism stakeholders’ perspective is under-investigated for destination image projection and communication, this paper aimed at assessing the integration of sustainable tourism principles in the promotion of destinations by DMOs; the focus was placed on video advertisements posted on the primary online source of tourism information, social media. Through a content analysis of DMOs’ social media advertisements for the 50 most visited cities in the world, the current study revealed that elements covering all three dimensions of sustainability (economic, socio-cultural, natural) were featured in the commercial discourse, but not in a sustainable explicit standpoint. Besides, the content sporadically reflected sustainable governmental initiatives and projected responsible tourist behavior, while it lacked specific sustainable tourism-related terms. Moreover, several highly popular cities did not have promotional videos. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on destination image formation by providing evidence from the supply’s side along with an original content analysis grid which can be used to capture and evaluate the sustainable tourism dimensions as portrayed in advertising videos of cities. Additionally, it offers practical implications for DMOs’ marketing communication strategies.

Samara identity in the mirror of advertising and commercial names

The purpose of our research is to identify ways of translating the Samara identity in the system of verbal sign complexes of commercial objects based on the use of the semiotic method. The main object of study is the proper names of shops, cafes, restaurants, salons, industrial and cultural facilities presented in Samara outdoor advertising, as well as brand names whose textual designations include brand identifiers of the territory – iconic names that serve as connotative regional components and provide a mental link with the image of a regional brand. Our research confirms the hypothesis that the Samara identity is built on the basis of a cultural code based on territorial certainty. The key verbal signs represented in the commercial discourse of urban space and forming the identity of the territory in the minds of citizens are toponyms: Samara, Zhiguli, Volga. These brand symbols not only demonstrate a direct toponymic link to the region, but mainly play the role of priority symbols of regional identity as part of numerous conventionally symbolic advertising and commercial names. Based on our research, it is possible to solve the problem of constructing the basic structure of the figurative-mental map of Samara identity on the basis of three key toponyms – symbols of the territorial brand. The spheres of numerous ergonyms and pragmatonyms are formed around each of these symbols, which are widely represented in the advertising and information environment of urban space, have visual contact with the residents of the agglomeration and have a direct impact on the formation of urban identity. Our study is relevant because it allows us to consider the key symbols of urban identity identified by us as material representatives of the symbolic capital of a territorial brand. The central markers of the figurative-mental map of the city perform the function of a verbal semiotic tool – a translator of urban identity, the active use of which in the advertising and commercial discourse of the city of Samara confirms a sufficiently high level of self-awareness of the citizens.

How Advertising Speaks to Consumers: A Case of Youth Language in Local Commercial Discourse

Like other developing countries, especially Malaysian urban youths, are continuously creating their “own language” to set themselves apart from the older generation. Referred to as Generation Z or Gen Z (post-millennials), these group of youths use slang that takes the form of code-mixing, abbreviations and ‘nonstandard variety’ of languages. First, this study aimed to reveal the patterns of youth language incorporated into local commercial discourse to attract young-adult consumers. The focus of this study is to determine how youth language is used and at the same time bring forth the different linguistic strategies employed in fashion articles. Secondly, this study investigated the perception of fellow Malaysians, especially young adults, regarding the existence of a youth language, especially code-mixing, in local fashion magazines. This was a qualitative descriptive study, but numbers and percentages were also used to support the findings. The various types of youth language patterns used were gathered based on titles of 60 commercial articles published in 3 famous local fashion magazines, namely Remaja (Youth), Keluarga (Family) and Nona (Woman). The findings showed a high usage of non-standard language and code-mixing in local advertisements. The main reason for using youth language in advertising is to attract and engage the attention of potential target consumers within the Gen Z age group. On the other hand, it was found that most respondents had positive perceptions regarding these kinds of advertisements and consider it as a good marketing skill.

COMMERCIAL AND RESEARCH CLUSTERING OF AUGMENTED REALITY: DISCOURSES AND DIVIDES BETWEEN AR APPS AND APPLICATIONS

Although the majority of Augmented Reality (AR) scholarship is based in Computer Science disciplines, it is nevertheless important to consider emergent trends in AR discourses as research and development shifts from technology labs to media markets. While technical understandings of AR are necessary, they are insufficient to understand how networked spatial computing is augmenting everyday life. In response, this paper maps and compares two specific AR discourses for nodes of power and authority. First, it systematically reviews how AR research citations are shifting from science and technical foci to applied uses of AR via a systematic scientometric review. That work allows, among other insights, consideration of the extent disciplinary boundaries shaped how AR is understood and innovated. Second is contrasting these evolving patterns with current consumer exposure to AR via a critical technocultural discourse analysis (CTDA) of the presentation of phone-based AR apps available on the iOS App Store and Google Play. Comparative discussion of these inquiries adds to understandings of how AR is conceptualised in research and commercial discourses, and how these data might inform future research and practice in the socialisation of AR systems, media, and experience.

Empathy Puzzles: Solving Intergenerational Conflict in Young Adult Video Games

When Katie Greenbrier (<em>Gone Home</em>, 2013) and Edith Finch (<em>What Remains of Edith Finch</em>, 2017) return to their family homes, they are confronted with the frailty and fallibility of their parents. Photo albums they were never meant to find, letters they were not supposed to read, and receipts that tell uncomfortable stories reveal to the teen protagonists the secret, and sometimes sordid, lives that their parents have kept hidden from them. In this article, I argue that the ‘exploration’ game mechanic in both of these texts equates the strategic need to examine a puzzle from multiple angles with a cumulative sense of wholistic, interpersonal understanding required for successfully challenging adult hegemony and bringing about intergenerational reconciliation. I posit that these games present cross-generational empathy not as an end-state to attain, but as a ludic skill that precipitates action, meaningful consequence, and structural change. In other words, these video games connect empathy to agency, positioning it as a tool for problem-solving, sense-making, and intervention. This article responds directly to Bonnie Ruberg’s call to “end the reign of empathy” in the critical and commercial discourses surrounding video games, and follows her precedent of unpacking the ambivalence and complexities of ‘playing-at-empathising’ in order to identify counter-normative models of connection and intersubjectivity present in these texts.

Types of derivatives with prefix mega- in synchronic and diachronic perspectives

The article describes different types of derivatives with the prefix mega- in the English language in terms of word-formation meanings. The study of the component of ancient Greek origin functioning in a synchronic and diachronic perspective made it possible to establish the reasons and describe the mechanisms of its further derivational transformations in English language. In the receiving language, the adjective έ undergoes cross-level conversion and is used as a prefix element in various derivatives. The quantitative semantics that is genetically inherent in the component is implemented as a part of terminological units in which the prefix acts as a term element. In other types of discourse, the quantitative identification function is combined with the function of evaluation. In derivatives related to popular science or commercial discourse, the prefix mega- serves to distinguish an object from a number of similar ones and marks it as an exceptional phenomenon. The method of profiling used in the analysis made it possible to describe the internal mechanism of word-formation meanings of derivatives with the prefix mega-. Contextual analysis and survey of informants (native English speakers) allowed for differentiation between the meaning of mega- and super- prefixes used in the evaluation function. It has been found that in English derivatives, the prefix mega- marks the highest degree of the quality and is attached to the bases, which referents could be evaluated in the terms of quantitative characteristics. The addition of the prefix super- is not related to parametric characteristics in the meaning of the root morpheme, which determines its assessment by native speakers as a marker of a lower degree of evaluated quality.

The Business of Language &amp; the Language of Business: Neoliberal Performativity &amp; Hegemonic Discourse

Austerity measures and neoliberal policies have deeply affected the UK cultural sector. In particular they have been central to cementing the idea that contemporary cultural institutions should henceforth be regarded as commercial operations. As the language of business and management increasingly frames how organizations of the cultural sector are described, this paper seeks to define the main discursive practices motivating this performative repositioning. Drawing theoretically from J. L. Austin’s (1962) landmark philosophical work on performativity, and building empirically on in-depth interviews with senior staff across the UK museum sector, we argue that the incursion of business language has served to reshape the ‘reality’ of the sector. This has been achieved, primarily, by materialising what we term conceptually a new hegemonic performative discourse – one based on notions of monetisation, productivity and rebranding. In order to understand current and possibly future dilemmas facing the management and organization of museums, we assess the consequences of this new commercial discourse as it becomes framed as strategically superior to that of its historic conservational and educational counterpart.

Emotion and rationality by degree: a history of the hospitality degree program at Niagara College Canada

ABSTRACT Hospitality and tourism degree programs are not typically studied in a historical context. Chronicling the past with respect to the formation and evolution of a post-secondary academic qualification has merit but research of this nature is not often conceptually sophisticated. A historical study of a four-year hospitality degree program is being undertaken at Niagara College Canada, an educational institution that has offered this academic qualification since 2003. The history of the degree program is distinguished by two themes: the degree is both a collective endeavour imbued with emotions and a product of calculated, business-driven deliberations. A degree, in this paper, is portrayed as an emotional enterprise; the work associated with its creation and management is informed by emotions and rational, commercial discourse. This paper uses the hospitality degree at Niagara College Canada as a case study to pursue a deeper understanding of the making and shaping of an academic qualification.

The Loss of Public Sphere: Outdoor Advertising and Commercialization of Public Spaces in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The commercialization of public spaces is one of the crucial issues in Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia. This study examines the loss of public spaces on Kaliurang and Affandi street, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Applying case study as a research method, the data were collected through close observations to the advertisements, billboards, banners, posters, and other outdoor media along Jl . Kaliurang and Affandi street. During the data collection, the author has taken some photos in certain spots of these two locations. The study finds that the massive occupation of outdoor advertising in the public spaces along these two areas has not only causing visual trash , but also causing the loss of public sphere. It is caused by several factors. One of the most important factors is the weakness of the local government regulations. Another factor is the spatial capitalization of Yogyakarta Special Region and Sleman Regency in recent years as could be seen from the wide establishment of hotels, malls, supermarkets, and minimarkets in Yogyakarta. As a result, public do not have enough space to express their voices and interests. Furthermore, the dominance of outdoor advertising has resulted in the dominance of commercial discourse in the public spaces and has simultaneously marginalized or even eliminated public discourse. Public space has eventually transformed into commercial and has no longer become important tools for democracy. Conversely, it has become an important tool for promoting consumer culture. Keywords: Commercialization, public space, public sphere, outdoor advertising, commercial discourse.

FAKE NEWS AS A WEAPON OF PERSUASION

Our study is qualitative research. It is a content analysis of more than 2,500 European and American posters of war propaganda identifying modern principles of persuasion and forms of discourse. The analysis of the themes demonstrates that the techniques used one hundred years ago to convince civilians to enlist had enormous potential for development to such a degree that they were adopted by modern political and commercial persuasion. Therefore, we can consider the propagandists of the Great War as modern spin doctors. The idea evolved after reading Propaganda (1928) by Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud. This is an astonishing book; it provides illuminating interpretations both for understanding of war propaganda – not just for the Great War – and for the commercial discourse of which Bernays became a promoting agent.&#x0D; During the Great War the propagandists used emotional and rational stratagems to convince volunteers to leave to the front. Among these, the fake news played an important role in the production of the posters that served to motivate and galvanize people to defend the ideals of the war. It was an organized disinformation action because, especially for American people, the war was very far in kilometres and in interest. Fake news has two different factors: wrong or unreasonable argumentations and false information used as premises. The success of the posters was that of moulding the agenda-setting and the opinion of citizens in order to increase the enlistment to defend the identity of the nation.

Articulating Alternatives: Moving Past a Plug-and-Play Prosthetic Media Model

Articulating Alternatives: Moving Past a Plug-and-Play Prosthetic Media Model

Biocultural Diversity, Campesino Kitchens, and Globalization: Ethnobiological Perspectives on Dietary Change in Southern Bolivia

Widespread reduction in traditional foods has been extensively documented around the world, despite a growing scholarship in ethnobiology and nutrition studies attesting to the value and importance of traditional food systems. A processual ethnobiology approach—one attuned to the historically situated nature of traditional ecological knowledge, and the influence and interplay of micro- and macro-level forces—may offer new insights into processes of dietary change and continuity. Using this perspective, I present a case study from Southern Bolivia on rural peoples' descriptions of how and why their foodways have changed over time, as well as how their traditional food system is being sustained. I draw on data gathered over 12 months through interviews, participation, participant observation, and document review. Animal protein and commercial crop production promotion and discourses disparaging traditional meals are some of the factors affecting availability, affordability, and acceptability of traditional foods. Nevertheless, there are also many examples of how local foods and recipes have been adapted, rather than abandoned, and of promising initiatives rebuilding the prestige and cultural acceptability of traditional foods. These findings suggest a more complex and nuanced process of dietary change than is often posited in the nutrition transition model. Place-specific, historically informed understandings of how attitudes, availability, and other factors have influenced local food systems are needed to develop policies and programs that effectively respond to locally identified concerns surrounding the continuity of traditional food use.