Euphemism in laxative TV commercials: at the crossroads between politeness and persuasion

IF 1.4 2区 文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture Pub Date : 2021-04-22 DOI:10.1515/pr-2018-0047
Eliecer Crespo-Fernández
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract Despite the stigma attached to human defecation and people’s reluctance to talk about it openly, there are certain communicative situations in which one cannot evade referring to the elimination of body wastes. This is the case of laxative TV commercials, a type of discourse focused on the infrequent or difficult evacuation of the bowels that constitutes a breeding ground for euphemism. In this regard, following a socially-oriented approach to discourse analysis, politeness theory, and cognitive linguistics, the purpose of this paper is to gain an insight into the way euphemism works in a sample of contemporary American TV commercials advertising laxatives. The analysis reveals that euphemism – mostly in the form of metonymy and understatement – and non-euphemistic metaphors and similes serve as face-saving mechanisms for the company’s self-presentational purposes and are ultimately used as part of a sales strategy aiming to attract the interest of viewers.
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泻药电视广告中的委婉语:在礼貌和说服之间的十字路口
摘要尽管人类排便带有耻辱感,人们不愿公开谈论它,但在某些交流情况下,人们无法回避消除身体废物。这就是泻药电视广告的情况,这是一种关注排便不频繁或困难的话语,是委婉语的滋生地。在这方面,本文采用社会导向的话语分析方法、礼貌理论和认知语言学,旨在深入了解委婉语在当代美国电视广告中的作用方式。分析表明,委婉语——主要是转喻和轻描淡写的形式——以及非委婉隐喻和明喻是公司自我展示目的的面子机制,最终被用作吸引观众兴趣的销售策略的一部分。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
2.50
自引率
30.00%
发文量
24
期刊介绍: The Journal of Politeness Research responds to the urgent need to provide an international forum for the discussion of all aspects of politeness as a complex linguistic and non-linguistic phenomenon. Politeness has interested researchers in fields of academic activity as diverse as business studies, foreign language teaching, developmental psychology, social psychology, sociolinguistics, linguistic pragmatics, social anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, communication studies, and gender studies. The journal provides an outlet through which researchers on politeness phenomena from these diverse fields of interest may publish their findings and where it will be possible to keep up to date with the wide range of research published in this expanding field.
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