Genre and reference chains
From a global to a local approach
Many studies have shown that the choice of referential expressions is not only governed by grammatical or cognitive rules but also builds a form of convention that differs from one genre to the next. This paper looks into the relationship between text genre and reference chains, which has been only partially investigated, in order to explain this variation with parameters like the writing strategy or the discursive perspective. Based on a corpus of 80 literary reviews published in French and German newspapers, the study calls for a local approach that shows how the writing strategy involves referents in processes that have an influence on the chains. The local approach also points out how editorial or cultural habits can question conventions.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Properties of the corpus
- 2.1Heterogeneity of the corpus
- 2.2General data and types of referring expressions
- 3.Characterisation and organisation of reference chains in newspaper reviews
- 3.1Classification of referents
- 3.2Writing strategies: Narration vs. description
- 3.3The discursive perspective
- 4.Conclusion
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Notes
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References