Optimal Relevance And Context Analysis In Advertising Captions

Based on Sperber and Wilson's Relevance theory, the dissertation analyzes how the audience acquires optimal relevance through the contextual assumption selection in the advertising caption.Relevance theory points out that communication is an ostention-inference process. In this process, the speaker first sets up in his activity an ostensive stimulus. This stimulus, on the one hand, points out the informative intention of the speaker to the hearer; on the other hand, points out that the speaker has the intention of conveying the informative intention.In advertising communication the Ad man has to select the best context so as to make the addressee accept the information conveyed by the advertisement. These selected contexts are the very ostensive stimuli mentioned by D. Sperber and D. Wilson. In the advertising communication, these ostensive stimuli, on the one hand can attract the attention of the advertisement addressee, on the other hand lead the advertisement addressee to the optimal relevance. And the research project of this dissertation is to study how the advertising caption interacts with the advertisement addressee through the context selection strategy and makes the addressee obtain the optimal relevance.This dissertation consists of four chapters, the main contents are as follows:Chapter One after surveying and commenting on the past researches to the advertising language, points out their concern for the advertising purpose is not sufficient. On this basis, this dissertation stresses the importance of the advertising purpose, and put forward the research purpose and method by applying relevance theory in this dissertation.Chapter Two offers the relevance theory, discusses various kinds of context, and presents the pragmatic features of the advertising language.Chapter Three, (according to the category of context) makes theoretical case study of the advertising caption, demonstrates how the addressee achieves optimal relevance through the context theory.Chapter Four draws a brief conclusion, and also points out that the analysis of the obtaining process of the optimal relevance not only deepens the Ad man's understanding about the cognition process of the advertisement addressee, but also enriches the implication of relevance theory.