Manipulative Potential of Intertextual References in Business Discourse: Functional Analysis of Business Documents

Authors

  • Olga V. Aleksandrova

    Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, 6, Miklukho-Maklaya Street, Moscow 117198, Russia
  • Victoria Sibul

    Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, 6, Miklukho-Maklaya Street, Moscow 117198, Russia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i6.7521
Received: 16 October 2024 | Revised: 31 October 2024 | Accepted: 11 December 2024 | Published Online: 11 December 2024

Abstract

Intertextuality has become a characteristic feature of postmodern texts, in which, in addition to updated information about contemporary or historical events, communicative and pragmatic guidelines are especially clearly visible. The effect is achieved by so-called linguistic and stylistic resources, which would be distinguished by the corresponding potential. Intertextual references are also actively used in business discourse (both oral and written). However, the field of business discourse has not been studied much from the point of view of the theory of intertextuality. By foreign and Russian scholars, intertextuality is mainly analyzed in relation to fiction texts and journalism (media texts). Nevertheless, the practice to use intertextual connections is rather frequent in the process of drafting, conducting negotiations, and conducting business correspondence pursuing the aim to manipulate business partners. Within the framework of this study, these specific aspects of intertextual references in various text types of business discourse as well as their function in the texts under study are highlighted and their manipulative potential is studied. Business documents functional analysis proved that in most cases intertexts were used to establish more credibility and engage partners in the business process as well as provide some guidance.  Thus it proved our hypothesis that intertextual references in business documents can possess some manipulative potential.

Keywords:

Intertextuality; Intertextual References; Business Discourse; Business Documents; Speech Manipulation

References

[1] Kristeva, J., 1982. Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Language and Art. Edited by Roudiez, L.S. Translated by Gora, T., Jardine, A., Roudiez, L.S. Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA. 305p.

[2] Bakhtin, M.M., 1981. The problem of speech genres: Collection. Op.: in 7 vols. Vol. 5. Rus. slov.: Moscow, Russia. 732p.

[3] Barthes, R., 1977. The Death of the Author'. In Images-Music-Text. Translated by Stephen Heath. Hill & Wang: New York, NY, USA. pp. 142–148.

[4] Genette, G., 1997. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Translated by Jane, E.L. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

[5] Hutcheon, L., 1985. A theory of parody: the teachings of twentieth-century art forms. University of Illinois Press: Champaign, IL, USA.

[6] Riffaterre, M., 1983. Text Production. Translated by Lyons, T. Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA.

[7] Issers, O.S., 2006. Communicative Strategies and Tactics of Russian Speech. KomKniga: Moscow, Russia.

[8] Malyuga, E.N., Rimmer, W., 2021. Making Sense of “Buzzword” as a Term through Co-Occurrences Analysis. Heliyon. 7(6), e07208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07208

[9] Sibul, V.V., Vetrinskaya, V.V., Grishechko, E.G., 2019. Study of Precedent Text Pragmatic Function in Modern Economic Discourse. In: Malyuga, E.N. (Ed.). Functional Approach to Professional Discourse Exploration in Linguistics. Springer: New York, NY, USA. pp. 131–163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9103-4_5

[10] Raz, J., 1986. The Morality of Freedom. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

[11] Barnhill, A., 2014. What is Manipulation? In: Coons, C., Weber, M. (Eds.). Manipulation: Theory and Practice. Oxford Scholarship Online: New York, NY, USA. pp. 51–72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199338207.003.0003

[12] Sunstein, C.R., 2015. Fifty Shades of Manipulation. Journal of Marketing Behavior. 1(3–4), 213–244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1561/107.00000014

[13] Wilkinson, T.M., 2013. Nudging and Manipulation. Political Studies. 61(2), 341–355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.00974.x

[14] Danilova, A.A., 2011. Manipulirovanie Slovom v Sredstvakh Massovoy Infor-Matsii [Word Manipulation in Mass Media]. Dobrosvet: Moscow, Russia.

[15] Zirka, V.V., 2014. Manipulyativnye Igry v Reklame: Lingvisticheskiy Aspect [Manipulative Games in Advertising: Linguistic Aspect]. URSS: Moscow, Russia.

[16] Chernyavskaya, V.E., Molodychenko, E.N., 2023. Rechevoe Vozdeystvie v Politicheskom, Reklamnom i Internet-Diskurse [Verbal Influence in Political, Advertising and Internet Discourses]. URSS: Moscow, Russia.

[17] Schiller, G., 1980. Manipulators of Consciousness. Mysl: Moscow, Russia. p. 326

[18] Orlova, N.V., 2016. Discourse Analysis of an Official Business Document: Goals, Opportunities, Results. Język i Metoda. 2, 125–135.

[19] Akopova, A.S., 2023. English for Specific Purposes: Tailoring English Language Instruction for History Majors. Training, Language and Culture. 7(3), 31–40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2521-442X-2023-7-3-31-40

[20] Malyuga, E.N., McCarthy, M., 2021. “No” and “Net” as Response Tokens in English and Russian Business Discourse: In Search of a Functional Equivalence. Russian Journal of Linguistics. 25(2), 391–416. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-2021-25-2-391-416

[21] Aleksandrova, O.V., Mendzheritskaya, E.O., Malakhova, V.L., 2017. Dynamic Changes in Modern English Discourse. Training, Language and Culture. 1(1), 92–106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29366/2017tlc.1.1.6

[22] Grishechko, E.G., 2023. Language and Cognition Behind Simile Construction: A Python-Powered Corpus Research. Training, Language and Culture. 7(2), 80–92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2521-442x-2023-7-2-80-92

[23] Malyuga, E.N., 2019. Functional Approach to Professional Discourse Exploration in Linguistics. Springer: New York, NY, USA. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9103-4

[24] Udina, N., 2018. Citation as intertextual device in legal discourse. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Education and Social Sciences INTCESS2018; International Organization Center of Academic Research, Istanbul, Turkey, 5–7 February 2018; pp. 1090–1093.

[25] Malyuga, E.N., Akopova, A.S., 2021. Precedence-Setting Tokens: Issues of Classification and Functional Attribution. Training, Language and Culture. 5(4), 65–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2521-442X-2021-5-4-65-76

[26] Grishechko, E.G., 2024. The Linguistic Landscape of “Controversial”: Sentiment and Theme Distribution Insights. Gema Online Journal of Language Studies. 24(1), 79–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2024-2401-05

[27] Malyuga, E.N., 2023. A Corpus-Based Approach to Corporate Communication Research. Russian Journal of Linguistics. 27(1), 152–172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-33561

[28] Danilina, E.A., Kizyan, E.E., Maksimova, D.S., 2019. Euphemisms in Advertising Discourse: Putting on a Positive Face and Maintaining Speech Etiquette. Training, Language and Culture. 3(1), 8–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29366/2019tlc.3.1.1

[29] Ryzhenko, E.S., 2013. Functions of Intertextual References in PR-Text. International Journal of Applied and Fundamental Research. 10(3), 445–447.

[30] Syshchikov, O.S., 2000. Implicitness in Business Discourse [Doctoral Dissertation]. Volgograd State University: Volgograd, Russia. Available from: https://search.rsl.ru/ru/record/01000321713

[31] Dubrovskaya, T.V., Yuskaeva, E.I., 2022. Language Aggression in Virtual Professional Communities. Training, Language and Culture. 6(4), 62–72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2521-442X-2022-6-4-62-72

[32] Aleksandrova, O.V., 2018. Kognitivno y Semiotichesky Markirovanye Situatzii v Yazyke y Rechi [Cognitively and Semiotically Marked Situations in Language and Speech]. Cognitive Language Studies. 35, 76–80.

Downloads

How to Cite

Aleksandrova, O. V., & Sibul, V. (2024). Manipulative Potential of Intertextual References in Business Discourse: Functional Analysis of Business Documents . Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(6), 702–712. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i6.7521

Issue

Vol. 6 , Iss. 6 (December 2024)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2024 Moussa Diagne Faye, Vini Yves Bernadin Loyara, Amadou Keita, Mamadou Diop, Angelbert Chabi Biaou, Mahamadou Koita, Hamma Yacouba

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.