An Intertextual Analysis Of English Advertisements For Chinese Products

Intertextuality, defined by de Beaugrande and Dressler (1981:3), is one of the seven standards of textuality. It plays an important role in text production and comprehension. However, the researches on intertextuality in discourse analysis are still not deep enough, not to say in advertising discourse analysis. In this thesis, an intertextual analysis is made in advertising discourse, to be more specific, in English advertisements for Chinese products.Intertextulity used in advertising is to suggest characteristics about the product and to aid readers'interpretation of their advertisements. In other words, intertextuality can help produce advertisements for which the product is instantaneously recognizable and also encourage the viewers to think about the product and hence increase their associations with the product (Catherine R. Langan, 1998). This paper intends to draw more researchers'attention to the intertextuality of advertising discourse, particularly to the English advertisements for Chinese products. Moreover, it is hoped that the paper can bring benefits to both advertisers in making ads and customers in interpreting ads, by providing them with an intertextual perspective.With qualitative analysis approach, the author discusses three types of intertextuality in advertising discourse including specific, generic and media intertextuality with corresponding samples. Besides, how intertextuality functions in advertisements and what problems may be produced owing to inappropriate use of intertextuality are answered so as to give Chinese advertisers some enlightenment in making English ads for Chinese products.It is found that by appropriate use of intertextuality, an advertiser can increase the forms of expression, promote the aesthetic effects of ads, enforce persuasion of ads, improve attention value and enhance memory value of ads. However, if misuse, some problems will be produced. To help advertisers avoid committing those mistakes, some enlightenment is given, that is advertisers should pay attention to relativity of intertextuality, try to get inspiration from already successful English ads and take popular culture into account. These tips will help advertisers make their ads better understood and accepted, create superior works and get more potential customers'attention.Through this tentative study, it is hoped that more researches will be done on the intertextual analysis of advertising discourse, particularly English advertisements for Chinese products.