The Discourse of Advertising

by Guy Cook

This comprehensive introduction to advertising discourse examines the language of contemporary advertising, not as an isolated object, but in complex interaction with the texts around it, with music and pictures and, importantly, with the people who make and experience it. Clearly explaining relevant theories of linguistics and poetics, each chapter ends with a series of stimulating exercises, and theoretical discussion is accompanied by examples from literary and sub-literary texts and recent advertisements. Putting forward the controversial view that adverts answer a need for play and display in contemporary society, Guy Cook explores the social function of advertising, moving from the uses of sound and sight, through creativity and word play to the poetic intricacies of the text to assess the effect of these on the people who receive adverts everyday, and whose identity is partly constructed by them.

Genres: Linguistics

Kindle Edition

First published November 17, 1992

About the author

Guy Cook is Professor of Language and Education at the Open University, UK. He was formerly Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading (1998-2004) and head of TESOL at the London University Institute of Education (1991-1998). He was co-editor of the journal Applied Linguistics 2004-2009. He is current Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, and an academician of the UK Academy of the Social Sciences. He has published extensively on applied linguistics, discourse analysis, English language teaching, literary stylistics, advertising, and the language of environmental debate. He has been an invited speaker in over 30 countries.

Reviews

[Yivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many interesting pictures and examples in this book, and my professor helped me analyze some of those examples. As a beginner in this area, I think this book is more interesting than other similar articles I have read in the past. It is a very solid four-star read.