Discourse and Text

This article discusses tense and aspect in the context of attested forms of discourse and text. The emphasis is on the semantic, pragmatic, textual, and stylistic functions of tense in context, taking into account linguistic features in the surrounding discourse, as well as the importance of factors such as medium (spoken or written), register (degree of formality), text type (literary vs. journalistic vs. conversational etc.), and discourse mode (narrative vs. report vs. description, etc.). Thus, tense and aspect are analyzed not purely as part of a linguistic “system” as such, but in the context of particular texts or forms of discourse. The article also explores the concept of “markedness” through two case studies: the narrative present and the narrative imperfect. Finally, it assesses the roles played by tenses in conveying particular points of view in texts, including shifts and/or ambiguities in point of view; Segmented Discourse Representation Theory; internal focalization and the French imperfective past tense; and textual polyphony.

Reconstructing apology: David Cameron's Bloody Sunday apology in the press

While there is an acknowledgement in apology research that political apologies are highly mediated, the process of mediation itself has lacked scrutiny. This article suggests that the idea of reconstruction helps to understand how apologies are mediated and evaluated. David Cameron's apology for Bloody Sunday is examined to see how he constructs four aspects of apology: social actors, consequences, categorization, and reasons. The reconstruction of those aspects by British, Unionist, and Nationalist press along with reconstructions made by soldiers in an online forum are considered. Data analysis was informed by thematic analysis and discourse analysis which helped to explore key aspects of reconstruction and how elements of Cameron's apology are altered in subsequent mediated forms of the apology. These mediated reconstructions of the apology allowed their authors to evaluate the apology in different ways. Thus, in this article, it is suggested that the evaluation of the apology by different groups is preceded by a reconstruction of it in accordance with rhetorical goals. This illuminates the process of mediation and helps to understand divergent responses to political apologies.

‘Reason’ and ‘tickle’ as pragmatic constructs in the discourse of advertising

This paper explores certain pragmatic features of advertising discourse. It focuses on and expands upon a binary distinction between types of advertising discourse which was proposed initially by Bernstein (1974) and which has been touched upon more recently by other commentators such as Cook (1992). This is the distinction between reason advertisements (those which suggest a motive or reason for purchase) and tickle advertisements (those which appeal to humour, emotion and mood). It will be argued that Bernstein's distinction can be accommodated relatively systematically within contemporary frameworks of language and discourse. Drawing on a range of work in pragmatics and in systemic-functional linguistics, this paper takes some tentative steps towards the development of a theoretical model with accounts for this particular communicative-cognitive dimension of advertising discourse.