Page 365 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 365
keholders in Promotional 365
Genres: A Rhetorical Perspective
on Marketing Communication
Sabrina Mazzali-Lurati and Chiara Pollaroli,
University of Lugano
Summary
This contribution aims at exploring the domain of business communication from a
rhetorical perspective. A full comprehension of the rhetorical situation – especially
of its participants – where a communicative event is ascribed, is fundamental in or-
der to produce an effective text. Participants in a rhetorical situation are framed as
stakeholders: they are interested and favour a successful communicative event in re-
lation to its rhetorical situation.
We will present our rhetorical approach through the example of four texts from the
category of promotional genres in a commercial realm. Insights into similar analyses
of texts belonging to different realms will be briefly provided. We will also mention
how our rhetorical approach can be useful in educational contexts, such as Rhetoric
and Composition courses.
Key words: stakeholder, rhetorical situation, business communication, discourse gen-
re, promotional text
T1. Introduction
his study explores the domain of business communication from a
rhetorical viewpoint. At the core of our approach is the concept
of rhetorical situation (henceforth RS), namely a context com-
posed of persons, events, objects, relations, needs and expectations (cf.
Bitzer, 1968) in respect to which a text aims at successfully achieving a
given goal. The RS configuration has an influence on a text’s contents,
structure and style. Therefore, considering and understanding the RS is
essential in order to produce an effective text.
Genres: A Rhetorical Perspective
on Marketing Communication
Sabrina Mazzali-Lurati and Chiara Pollaroli,
University of Lugano
Summary
This contribution aims at exploring the domain of business communication from a
rhetorical perspective. A full comprehension of the rhetorical situation – especially
of its participants – where a communicative event is ascribed, is fundamental in or-
der to produce an effective text. Participants in a rhetorical situation are framed as
stakeholders: they are interested and favour a successful communicative event in re-
lation to its rhetorical situation.
We will present our rhetorical approach through the example of four texts from the
category of promotional genres in a commercial realm. Insights into similar analyses
of texts belonging to different realms will be briefly provided. We will also mention
how our rhetorical approach can be useful in educational contexts, such as Rhetoric
and Composition courses.
Key words: stakeholder, rhetorical situation, business communication, discourse gen-
re, promotional text
T1. Introduction
his study explores the domain of business communication from a
rhetorical viewpoint. At the core of our approach is the concept
of rhetorical situation (henceforth RS), namely a context com-
posed of persons, events, objects, relations, needs and expectations (cf.
Bitzer, 1968) in respect to which a text aims at successfully achieving a
given goal. The RS configuration has an influence on a text’s contents,
structure and style. Therefore, considering and understanding the RS is
essential in order to produce an effective text.
