LINGUIST List 25.2345
Wed
May 28 2014
Diss: Akan, English,
Krio, Discipline of Ling, Discourse Analysis,
General Ling, Pragmatics, Semantics, Socioling:
Hmensa: 'Mirroring Ghanaian
Society...'
Editor for this issue:
Danuta Allen <danutalinguistlist.org>
Date: 26-May-2014
From: Patience hMensa
<afrahmensa
gmail.com>
Subject: Mirroring Ghanaian
Society Through Slice-of-Life Radio
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Institution: The Open University
Program: Doctor of Philosophy
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2013
Author: Patience Afrakoma Hmensa
Dissertation Title: Mirroring Ghanaian Society
Through Slice-of-Life Radio Advertisements
Dissertation URL:
http://www.academia.edu/6874873/Mirroring_Ghanaian_society_through_slice-of
Linguistic Field(s): Discipline of
Linguistics
Discourse
Analysis
General
Linguistics
Pragmatics
Semantics
Sociolinguistics
Subject Language(s):
Akan (aka)
English
(eng)
Krio
(kri)
Dissertation Director:
Philip Seargeant
Joan Swann
Dissertation Abstract:
This thesis explores radio advertising in
Ghana, focusing on the characteristics of a
genre that is often
termed ‘slice-of-life’ and that is popular with
advertising producers. Slice-of-life adverts
seek to represent
a version of real life: specifically, the
social reality of the target audience for the
advert. I discuss how this
represents a challenge to producers given a
number of constraints, particularly the very
brief duration of
the mini-dramas that form the core of
slice-of-life adverts and that last for just
10-60 seconds. I adopt the
notion of ‘designed indexicality’ as a major
analytical concept, arguing that this is a key
strategy in
designing a persuasive text. Producers,
according to this view, deliberately harness
culturally-salient
indexical resources in the design of adverts,
conveying meanings pertaining to the everyday
lives of the
advertised product’s target audience, and that
are readily and quickly interpretable by the
audience. In
analysing slice-of-life radio advertising I
draw on an adapted, expanded form of a
‘multi-perspectived’
discourse analysis. This combines an analysis
of advertising texts with an analysis of
advertising
producers’ accounts of their practice,
observations of the production process and
discussion with focus
groups who represent the target audience for
the adverts, meeting in a context that reflects
habitual
listening practices. The study therefore goes
beyond the ‘textualist’ approaches that, until
recently, have
dominated applied linguistic research on
advertising. I argue that the study addresses
certain gaps in the
literature, particularly with respect to the
research context (an African country), the
research focus (slice-
of-life radio advertising) and the expanded
multi-perspectived discourse analytical
approach. I discuss a
number of implications of the study for
research on advertising discourse within
applied linguistics and
related fields, and also argue that the study
points to the need for greater dialogue between
applied
linguists as analysts and advertising
practitioners.
Page Updated: 28-May-2014