[ELTWeekly Volume 6, Issue 21 | September 7, 2014 | ISSN 0975-3036]
Book review submitted by Daniela Breveníková, Slovak Republic.
“Corporate Discourse” (2013) by Ruth Breeze was published as one of the titles of Bloomsbury Discourse edited by Prof. Ken Hyland. The book makes an interesting and exciting piece of reading in the way the author constructs the world of corporate communication, and discloses for us hidden intentions and expectations of those by whom these genres are designed and to whom they have been written.
“Corporate Discourse” contains seven chapters. In the first two chapters the author explains basic concepts and categories, namely the corporation and its stakeholders; discourse, discourse studies, and corporate communication. When dealing with methods of studying discourse, the author pays a separate attention to discourse studies that start from text and those that are context-based. The context and principal concepts (corporation and its stakeholders) are described from the aspect of identity, action and interaction. Breeze’s approach to the corporation entity is highly dynamic: she refers to “discourse construction of the corporation” pointing this way to links between the corporation as an entity, its structure and its communication with its stakeholders: employees, investors and the world.
Specific genres of corporate discourse are explored in separate chapters (3-6) in terms of their functions and participants. Chapter Three, “Communicating with Employees”, addresses the topic of genres or subgenres, arising in the corporation – employee communication; it starts chronologically from job advertisements, through job interviews, to induction seminars, and guides for new employees.
Chapter Four entitled “Communicating with Investors” contains two categories of genres/subgenres that reflect a complex nature of company – investor relationships, namely the Annual Reports and a CEO’s letter. Although both of them are originally informative genres, in the course of interaction with participants of communication and in connection with company’s efforts to remain competitive, these genres are gradually assuming a persuasive power. Ways in which companies try to legitimize their activities – especially those for which their image has been tarnished in the media – are also described in the chapter.
Chapters Five and Six on “Communicating with the World” both focus on a corporation’s outward communication, while the former deals with advertising discourses, the latter describes a mixture of related discourses: company websites and their sections, company annual reviews and reports. Breeze considers advertising “the most emblematic expression of the company’s discursive endeavour towards its markets” (p.115). A separate subchapter deals with sponsorship as a more recent phenomenon in corporate communication and contains references to sponsorship activities in discourses mentioned above, e.g. in the Annual Report.
Chapter Seven contains an interpretation and evaluation of corporate discourse in terms of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The author returns to the fundamental concept of discourse and presents it in a broader perspective. On the basis of research, the author identifies trends in corporate discourse, namely discourse hybridisation, which occurs as a result of genre blending and interacting with each other. The final chapter ends with philosophical reflections on the utilitarian nature of the present-day world “structure by the consumer paradigm”. Since this process is “often manipulative” (p. 189), the author warns her readers, referring to them as “citizens of the world”, and emphasizes they should confront “corporate practices where necessary” with their own values (p.190).
Ruth Breeze displays an excellent knowledge of linguistics, including the recent trends in studying language and languages, of studies in languages for specific purpose as well as business management. In her analysis, she touches various economic disciplines and explains how they shape and use discourses dealt with in the publication. She presents each genre of corporate discourse from various aspects, in terms of various theories and supports her statements with numerous examples describing authentic events. In her construction of corporate communication also the genres that have been traditionally viewed as fact-intensive are presented as dynamic and changing in time, being shaped in accordance with the corporation’s operation on the market, as well as new expectations of consumers.
The book contains a wealth of information also about techniques, approaches to and methods of text analysis. Breeze deals with various language means used in specific corporate discourse genres, e.g. personal pronouns I and we, adjectives with positive connotations, and the collocations of emotionally charged words. In her reflections on the legitimization of corporate activities in documents designed for the public, the author, in fact, passes into the area of political linguistics. When dealing with advertising discourse, she pays an adequate attention to the function of graphics in specific discourses. In the case of advertising discourse, for example, colourful images of smiling faces carry a positive message about the company to its prospective clients.
This thoughtful corporate discourse analysis should be studied not only by linguists and scholars or teachers of languages for specific purposes but also by business persons, especially those who are actively involved in designing the documents described in the book, as well as those who are targeted with messages conveyed, i.e. clients and consumers.
Reference
Ruth Breeze: Corporate Discourse. Bloomsbury Discourse. Series Editor: Prof. Ken Hyland, University of Hong Kong. London, New Delhi, New York, Sydney, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4411-2718-1 (hardcover).