The aim of my dissertation is to analyse the theoretical features of hoardings as advertising text as well as the
analysis of the text types based on a sampling frame of sixty hoardings. In the beginning, advertising is presented
as an activity that is market-oriented and serves the purpose of communication. Various perceptions of the terms
oglas and reklama are discussed and the Slovenian advertising in its historical perspective is briefly outlined – from the first Slovenian advertisement in the year 1794, to the guild signs and the emergence of the first hoardings after Slovenia's independence. This is followed by an analysis of hoardings as text types, an overview of the external properties as well as of the texts' content and their critical evaluation. Beside the structured aspect of advertisement as text types, the semiotic aspect indicating the elements of verbal and non-verbal communication visible on the hoardings is presented as well. Among the elements of non-verbal communication,
visuals, such as logos, punctuation and the writing styles are discussed. The analysis of the elements of verbal
communication focuses on the linguistic and stylistic properties of hoardings and is restricted to the vocabulary
(borrowed words, technical terms, slang, dialectisms) and to the rhetorical devices. The latter lend a special
effect to the language and create an original style of advertising texts. The emphirical part applies the theoretical assumptions to a practical analysis of sample hoardings. The dissertation aims at providing an insight into the visual design of the hoardings and examining the relations between the elements of verbal and non-verbal
communication. It also aims at examining the lexica used on the hoardings, the common punctuation, the deviation from the orthographic norm and the most popular rhetorical devices, with which the advertisers are trying to appeal to the passing-by addressees.
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