An Intertextual Analysis Of Public Service Advertisements

Public Service Advertising (PSA) serves for the public's interest, and it involves nearly all aspects of social life, ranging from environmental protection, energy conservation, traffic safety, resistance to diseases, and so on. PSA aims to raise people's awareness to assume social obligation, call on positive actions beneficial to the society, thus creating favorable social atmosphere and facilitating the rapid social development.The term'intertextuality'was raised by French semiotician Julia Kristeva in the late 1960s. Many a scholar has made further elaboration of intertextuality. Xin Bin divided intertextuality into specific intertextuality and generic intertextuality. Specific intertextuality includes quotation, allusion, presupposition and imperative.This thesis is mainly based on the framework proposed by Xin Bin, supplemented by Qiao Xinglan's media intertextuality. By adopting qualitative approach and quantitative approach, this thesis analyzes twenty English PSAs and twenty Chinese PSAs, aiming to answer three questions: What are the forms and functions of intertextuality in PSAs? Which forms of intertextuality are most frequently used in PSAs? What is the relation between intertextuality and social functions of PSAs? It is found in this study that intertextuality forms of quotation, allusion, presupposition, imperative, generic intertextuality and media intertextuality are commonly used in both English and Chinese PSAs. Imperative is the most frequently used form, because imperative enables advertisers to establish a sort of connection with audiences, making communication going smoothly. Quotation may arouse strong recognition and feelings among the public, thus increasing the persuading power of PSAs; allusion makes PSAs thought-provoking; and the proper use of presupposition avoids lengthy persuading, making PSAs pithy. Generic intertextuality and media intertextuality adopt various genres or techniques to make PSAs be more vivid and have more convincing power. Proper use of intertextual approach enables PSA to realize its social functions effectively. Applying intertextuality theory to analyzing advertising discourse, the present study may enrich the studies of advertising discourses. Meanwhile, it casts a new light on the design and creation of English and Chinese PSAs.