The talk is based Discourse Analysis: a useful tool in Marketing Communications

on the fundamental premise that language is not a neutral medium because interlocutors appropriate it both in the act of creating the message and in the moment of its decoding (Bakhtin, 1981). This means that no form of communication can be considered neutral, since it necessarily expresses the position of the speaker and the social and cultural context in which it is generated (Fairclough, 2015; Goffman, 1974). From information documents to electoral manifestos, every message contains axiological, ideological, cultural, and emotional layers of varying intensity that act explicitly or implicitly through our choices: channels, lexicon, syntax, non-verbal language, intonation, visuals, and auditory elements, to name just a few. For this reason, analysing linguistic and semiotic choices is important also in marketing and corporate communication as it helps marketing communication specialists to became aware of the full implications of the textual and visual resources they choose, and, ultimately, gain control of the final message. Based on these considerations, the talk focuses on the following:

• how communication works: ideology and representations;

• interpretative framing;

• all is text: layouts and fonts;

• textual and visual analysis tools: appraisal (Martin and White, 2005) and images (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2023);

• examples of analysis from different media and topics, including (but not limited to) advertisement, commercials, charts: explicit and implied messages;

• when things go wrong: controversial advertisement.

References

Bakhtin, M. (1981). Discourse in the Novel, in M. Holquist (a cura di), The Dialogic Imagination, University of Texas Press, Austin.

Fairclough, N. (2015). Language and Power, Routledge, New York.

Goffman, E. (1974). Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience, Har­vard University Press, Cambridge.

Kress, G. - van Leeuwen, T. (2021). Reading Images. The Grammar of Visual Design, Routledge, New York-London

Martin, J. R. - White, P. R. R. (2005). The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English, Palgrave Macmil­lan, London.

Bio note

Valeria specialises in qualitative discourse analysis, with a focus on multimodality. She is a certified English-Italian translator and holds a PhD from the Centre for Translation (CenTraS) of University College London, a specialization in literary translation from the University of Venice and a degree with honours in Modern Languages from the University of Bologna. She is currently an adjunct professor and tutor at the University of Bologna and IUAV, Venice. She has contributed to international research projects with several Italian universities and University College London. She is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Media Ecology journal New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication (University of Toronto). Her work, which includes articles of literary criticism, translations and works on discourse analysis, has been published with John Benjamins, Peter Lang and Routledge. Her research interests include multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, political discourse, disinformation, stereotyping, nationalism, critical thinking.

Research interests: Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, political discourse, disinformation, stereotyping, nationalism, critical thinking.

Research highlights:

• 2024-2025: Food-Related Communication for Children in English: A Multimodal and Socio-Cultural Investigation – Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice.

• 2023: Experiments in Democracy. Refugee policy and innovation in democratic praxis and discourse – University of Turin.

• 2022: Strive project – University College London (funded by the British Academy) on the role of translation to reduce vaccine hesitancy among migrants in Italy and the United Kingdom (https://www.striveproj.com/)

• 2018-2020: three-year project (University of Bologna; https://site.unibo.it/wetell/en) on innovative teaching practices involving storytelling to promote civic awareness, funded by the Utrecht Network of European universities (https://utrecht-network.org/);

Selected publications

Books And Book Chapters

Reggi, V &. Combei, C.R., (2023). Appraisal, Sentiment and Emotion Analysis in Political Discourse: A Multimodal, Multi-method Approach. Routledge.

Reggi, V (2023; with Koller et al). Voices of Supporters: Populist parties, social media and the 2019 European elections. John Benjamins. (co-authored book; see also cap. 7: “Long live our Captain!”: a multimodal analysis of the comments on Matteo Salvini’s tweets by his supporters. (pp. 140-161).

Reggi, V. (2023) The Nation and the People: An appraisal analysis of populist themes in Justin Trudeau’s speeches. In O. Palusci, Made in Canada: The Languages of The Media. (pp. 315-344). Tangram Edizioni.

Reggi, V. (2022) Anger, Fear and Extreme Polarization in Italian Political Discourse: a multimodal study of the tweets by Matteo Salvini and his supporters during the European elections. Stockholm University Press.

Reggi, V. (2022; with Federici, F. M. et al) COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign among Migrants in Rome and the Emilia-Romagna Region. Full report of STRIVE Project (British Academy, UCL and Unibo). 

Reggi, V. (2019). The stereotype of Italianness in the rhetoric of Matteo Renzi: a multimodal analysis of his talks delivered in English. PhD thesis available at British Library – EThOS https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.791042

Articles

Reggi, V (2023) Italian Pride: The People and The Nation in the Populist Propaganda of the Northern League, a Multimodal Study. Quaderni di Semantica, 9

Reggi, V.  (2020). Negotiating Identity in Self-Translation: Stereotyping and National Character in the Speeches in English of Italy's Ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. In A. Almanna & J. J. Martínez Sierra (eds.), Reframing Realities through Translation. (pp. 67-105). Peter Lang.

Reggi, V. (2019). Producing the Self and the Other: Stereotyping and Nationalism in the Rhetoric of Matteo Renzi. MediAzioni, 25 (2019, Special Issue).

Reggi, V.  (2019). Constructing and Deconstructing Stereotypes. Philology, 4, 405-418 (2018/2019). www.ingentaconnect.com/content/plg/phil/2019/00000004/f0022018

Reggi, V. (2019). (ed.) Discussion, Philology, Social Sciences, Social Innovation: The WeTell Project. Philology, 4, 387-435 (2018/2019). www.ingentaconnect.com/content/plg/phil/2019/00000004/f0022018

Reggi, V.  (2019). The Myth of the Nation in Contemporary Italy: A Multimodal Analysis of Matteo Renzi’s Speeches in English. Quaderni di Semantica, 5, 459-482.