Intertextuality For The Construction Of Corporate Identity In Promotional Discourses Of Chinese Companies

The current study probes into intertextuality for the construction of corporate identity in promotional discourses of Chinese companies.Taking Huawei annual reports in the recent decade as its research data,the study seeks to investigate the intertextual strategies used in Huawei annual reports and how these strategies were manipulated to help construct a coherent,positive corporate identity.Based on a comprehensive review of existing literature,the present research points out that studies of intertextuality in identity construction are limited in the following aspects:1)from the perspective of research contents,most studies focus merely on the various roles that intertextuality plays in constructing identities of different types,without due consideration of how intertextuality operates and functions in this process;they provide scattered intertextual cases in discourses,without systematic illustrations about various types of intertextual resources manifested in the discourses;they are confined to collecting intertextual facts at the level of textual form,devoid of explorations of an applicable intertextual analysis model in identity construction at the level of language system;2)from the perspective of research data,most studies take news discourse as the research data,with corporate discourses left unaddressed;3)from the perspective of research objective,most studies put more attention to intertextuality in the construction of individual identity or national identity,with a paucity of studies investigating intertextuality in corporate discourse and its functions in the construction of corporate identity.In a nutshell,the roles of intertextuality for the construction of corporate identity are far from being systematically studied and adequately discussed.In view of this,the present dissertation ventures into the field and intends to investigate the intertextual strategies deployed in corporate discourses for the construction of corporate identity.Drawing on the Discourse-Historical Approach for critical discourse analysis,the study approaches the topic from a socio-constructive lens,bridging minute discursive studies with general corporate identity studies,together with intertextual analysis at the meso-level as its backbone.It proposes an analytical framework which integrates the identification of intertextual strategies at the meso-level,the classification of intertextual strategies at the micro-level and the explanation of the functions of intertextual strategies in the construction of corporate identity at the macro-level.Firstly,based on previous frameworks of intertextual studies and the observation of the data,the present research identifies intertextual strategies in discourse and proposes an intertextual analysis model of promotional discourse for corporate identity construction by integrating and synthesizing previous categorizations,drawing on their strong points and trying to make up their deficiencies.Specifically,the proposed model distinguishes three types of intertextuality in the discursive construction of corporate identity,illustrating not only the intertextual resources but the interdiscursive relations as well.Accordingly,three types of intertextuality are entailed into the proposed model,namely 1)textual intertextuality,referring to formally traceable intertextual relations;2)thematic intertextuality,referring to thematically traceable intertextual relations;3)interdiscursivity,referring to the influence of the appropriation of interdiscursive resources for corporate identity construction.Secondly,based on the meso-level analysis of intertextual strategies for corporate identity construction,the study focuses on the micro-level analysis of linguistic realizations of intertextual approach in the data,each type of intertextuality is further specified to form its system network.In this system,textual intertextuality falls into two types:quotations and rhetorical devices.The former is realized as Direct Speech,Indirect Speech and Narrative Report of Speech Acts,while the latter as an allusion to literature,reference,parody,and stylistic metaphor.The thematic intertextuality is approached from three perspectives:cohesive intertextuality,presupposition intertextuality and extended metaphorical intertextuality.In cohesive intertextuality,three types of sense relations are discussed:synonymy,hyponymy,and meronymy.Presupposition intertextuality centers on the discussion of propositions in the presupposition.Specifically,propositional modes,propositional expressions,and propositional functions are touched upon.As for extended metaphorical intertextuality,the focus is on those metaphors which carry not merely stylistic meanings as a kind of rhetorical device,but are a necessary means for textual organization and construction.Three aspects,including metaphorical representations,metaphorical modes and mapping relations of different extended metaphors,are addressed in this type.Turning to interdiscursivity,generic intertextuality,discoursal intertextuality,and stylistic intertextuality are incorporated into the system network.Generic intertextuality,defined as the mixture of different genres,is addressed from three perspectives:the research on the move structure of the annual reports,the exploration of discursive resources to facilitate genre mixture,and the discussion of genre colonization as the main reason for generic intertextuality.Discoursal intertextuality refers to the mix of different types of discourses.Five types of discourses are argued to be mixed in annual reports,including accounting discourse,financial discourse,public relations discourse,management discourse,and legal discourse,and each type of discourse is said to have distinct functions.Moreover,stylistic intertextuality,as the mixture of different styles,is further classified according to such different variables as tenor,mode and the rhetorical-mode of the discourse.In terms of tenor,frozen style,formal style,and informal style are differentiated.In terms of mode,written style,spoken style,and the combination of the two styles are classified.In terms of the rhetorical mode,narrative,argumentative and expository styles are identified in the reports.Finally,based on the meso-level analysis of different intertextual strategies and micro-level analysis of linguistic realizations of these strategies in previous chapters,the current study attempts to explore the pragmatic functions of intertextuality in the construction of corporate identity at the macro-level,which is the general theme of the discourse.The author explores how the text producer uses intertextual strategies in his dialogues with different potential audiences,including investors,corporate employees,financial experts,media,government agencies and interested public at large to construct different corporate identities,so that these potential audiences can accept the construction and,in turn,achieve his communicative purposes.On the whole,the study intends to relate the theory of intertextuality with the domain of corporate identity construction.It aims to construct an applicable model of intertextuality analysis for the discursive construction of corporate identity by analyzing systematically intertextual discursive strategies employed in promotional discourses.The study highlights the importance of intertextuality in the construction of corporate identity,as well as the illumination that intertextuality,as an essential discursive strategy,can provide strategic guidelines for the construction of a better corporate image.