Page 392 - 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. 392
What Do We Know about the World?
1. Introduction
N1.1. Headline, Figurativeness, Journalistic Discourse
ewspaper headlines are specific types of texts in which one or
more words announce the following article. The headline takes
the central place in the text: it is graphically separated from the
text body and often classified in the group of small texts (phrases, prov-
erbs, catchwords, aphorisms, jokes, graffiti etc.) (Halliday, 1994: 392–397,
in Ivas, 2004).
The basic function of the headline is defined in its positional prom-
inence, the purpose of which is to attract the reader’s attention and in-
form the reader about the basic content of the text body. The above men-
tioned functions represent the pragmatic and semantic roles of the head-
line (Iarovici and Amel, 1989) and they form the basic requirements of
the journalistic style. The semantic role is evident in the text body and
the pragmatic role is evident in the effect it exerts on the reader. In or-
der to successfully inform, the headline has to provide answers to one or
more basic questions (who, what, where, when, why). The headline also
has to attract the attention of the reader through a figurativeness which
arises not only from the positional prominence and the graphic features
of the headlines, but also as a result of distinct linguistic choice and spe-
cific arrangement of parts of the message within the whole (Tošović,
2002; Silić, 2006).
The journalistic style is also known as the hybrid style (Pranjić, 1968:
17) because it includes features of other functional styles such as liter-
ary, scientific, administrative and conversational, according to the type
of the newspaper text (news, report, paper, review, interview, chronicle...)
(Tošović 2002: 242, 250).
The headline strongly relies on figurativeness – it must adhere to
principles of language economy and transfer a meaningful message to
another person. That message has to arouse the interest of the reader
(Veselica-Majhut, 2006: 753). The construction of newspaper headlines
changes depending on the type of audience targeted, the historical con-
text, generation, gender, age of the reader, etc. The pragmatic and seman-
tic function of the headline is to point to an extra-textual reality, thus
other texts to which a headline also refers become an inter-textual junction
or the reader’s connection with the author of the text (Ivas, 2004: 14). The
headline’s compact format enables its function as a paraphrase.
Figurativeness is very important in newspaper headlines. A figura-
tive device is created through a special arrangement of language and it
1. Introduction
N1.1. Headline, Figurativeness, Journalistic Discourse
ewspaper headlines are specific types of texts in which one or
more words announce the following article. The headline takes
the central place in the text: it is graphically separated from the
text body and often classified in the group of small texts (phrases, prov-
erbs, catchwords, aphorisms, jokes, graffiti etc.) (Halliday, 1994: 392–397,
in Ivas, 2004).
The basic function of the headline is defined in its positional prom-
inence, the purpose of which is to attract the reader’s attention and in-
form the reader about the basic content of the text body. The above men-
tioned functions represent the pragmatic and semantic roles of the head-
line (Iarovici and Amel, 1989) and they form the basic requirements of
the journalistic style. The semantic role is evident in the text body and
the pragmatic role is evident in the effect it exerts on the reader. In or-
der to successfully inform, the headline has to provide answers to one or
more basic questions (who, what, where, when, why). The headline also
has to attract the attention of the reader through a figurativeness which
arises not only from the positional prominence and the graphic features
of the headlines, but also as a result of distinct linguistic choice and spe-
cific arrangement of parts of the message within the whole (Tošović,
2002; Silić, 2006).
The journalistic style is also known as the hybrid style (Pranjić, 1968:
17) because it includes features of other functional styles such as liter-
ary, scientific, administrative and conversational, according to the type
of the newspaper text (news, report, paper, review, interview, chronicle...)
(Tošović 2002: 242, 250).
The headline strongly relies on figurativeness – it must adhere to
principles of language economy and transfer a meaningful message to
another person. That message has to arouse the interest of the reader
(Veselica-Majhut, 2006: 753). The construction of newspaper headlines
changes depending on the type of audience targeted, the historical con-
text, generation, gender, age of the reader, etc. The pragmatic and seman-
tic function of the headline is to point to an extra-textual reality, thus
other texts to which a headline also refers become an inter-textual junction
or the reader’s connection with the author of the text (Ivas, 2004: 14). The
headline’s compact format enables its function as a paraphrase.
Figurativeness is very important in newspaper headlines. A figura-
tive device is created through a special arrangement of language and it
