A Study On Intertextuality In Chinese Commercial Advertising From The Perspective Of Contextual Adaptation

Since French semiotician Julia Kristeva published her treatise Semiotics,intertextuality has become a scientific term which has gradually made its way intothe research field. A large number of scholars from home and abroad have beenconducting studies on intertextuality from such perspectives as literature, psychology,sociology and linguistics. In the linguistic domain, investigations center mainly onvarious forms of intertextuality, which is one of the discourse features.Comparatively speaking, the relevant explorations on the generating mechanism andpragmatic functions of the intertextual phenomenon are far from being enough. As aparasitic genre, the commercial advertising discourse is characterized by a typicalintertextual property. Consequently, it is necessary and reasonable for the author tomake a tentative research on intertextuality in Chinese commercial advertising fromthe viewpoint of Pragmatics with Verschueren’s Contextual Adaptation Theory as thetheoretical framework.Adopting a qualitative research method, the author has chosen43Chinesecommercial advertisements as the research data, which are composed of printadvertisements from domestic authoritative newspapers and magazines as well asclassical television commercials from CCTV and mainstream network media. First,the typology of intertextuality in Chinese commercial advertising is discussed andexamined in detail. Then under the guidance of Contextual Adaptation Theory, thepresent thesis is intended to reveal the model in which intertextuality is employed toadapt to various contextual correlates in Chinese commercial advertising. With theanalysis of the dynamic adaptation process of intertextuality as the basis, the authorattempts to summarize the positive pragmatic functions performed by intertextualityin Chinese commercial advertising under the communicative context.According to what has been analyzed in the present study, it is pointed out thatChinese commercial advertising discourses have a striking feature of intertextuality,which falls into specific intertextuality, generic intertextuality and cultural intertextuality. The three types of intertextuality can be deemed as the pragmaticstrategies intentionally adopted by Chinese commercial advertisers in their dynamicadaptation to contextual factors of the mental world, social world and physical world.Moreover, the appropriate use of intertextual strategies in Chinese commercialadvertisements will fulfill several positive pragmatic functions. Making proper useof intertextual strategies will bring about the enhancement of expressive aesthetics,expressive flexibility and expressive efficiency of Chinese commercial advertisingdiscourses. This will be beneficial for increasing Chinese commercialadvertisements’ attention and memory value, enriching their contents as well asestablishing a positive corporate image. In this regard, the strategic use ofintertextuality is claimed to enable Chinese commercial advertisers to smoothlyachieve their communicative aims.This thesis has investigated the cognitive, psychological and socio-culturalelements influencing the strategic selection of intertextuality in Chinese commercialadvertising, based on which the author further explores the dynamic process ofintertextuality adapting to contextual objects in the mental, social and physicalworlds. The positive pragmatic functions of intertextuality in Chinese commercialadvertisements have been touched on in the last part of the thesis. It is hoped that thepresent study will exert a positive impact in terms of strengthening the explanatorypower of Adaptation Theory and providing a new perspective of analyzingintertextuality in advertising discourses. In the meantime, the relevant analysis onthe typology of intertextuality is expected to be of instructive significance to both theproduction and the interpretation of Chinese commercial advertising discourses.