Vol 7, No 1 (2015)

Volunteering Movement in Russia: Regional Presence and Future Perspectives  (PDF)

Irina Boldonova, Katerina Tsetsura

Abstract: This study provides an overview of the volunteering movement in Russia. Particularly, authors concentrate their discussion around major particularities of the volunteer development in Russia: the regional volunteerism, perspectives, relevant issues and the role and place of the government in the volunteering movement. After discussing historical and socio-cultural particularities of the volunteering movement in Russia, authors illustrate their points with examples from one specific region, the Republic of Buryatia, to build the argument for the need to investigate challenges and opportunities of the volunteering movement from the social, cultural perspective and offer ideas for future studies.

Public Relations and CSR as a Part of Corporate Legitimation  (PDF)

Irene Buhăniță 

Abstract: This article provides a review of public relations literature in relation with CSR, through an analysis of academic research done in 1999-2014 period and published in three main scientific journals. The content of this literature shows that researchers looked for new perspectives along the years, broadening Clark‟s approach (2000) of communication management to encompass management function and relationship management as well. The findings of the study suggest that the accent on processes may address ethics or legitimation topics in public relation as well as in CSR, because of the impoved relationships they can establish between organizations, stakeholders and society.

British Humour as the Art of Contemporary Homo Ridens: Based on an Exploration of the Comedy Series Fawlty Towers  (PDF)

Agata Figiel 

Abstract: Humour may ridicule both − the old and the new: something that is old may be attacked from a new position, and equally, something that is new, modern, dangerous for the status quo. The weapon in such confrontations, since the beginning of time, has been laughter. During primitive folk ceremonies or ancient peoples‟ rites – from the beginning of humour – one function was supreme, the elimination through ridicule of all elements of social life that may threaten a given society or the harmonious whole or particular groups, or units. The sample of linguistic analysis of incongruity and superiority, from an episode of the comedy series Fawlty Towers, has been used throughout this paper. The conclusion makes it clear that the aim of humour was and still is to ridicule certain attitudes or forms of behaviour, which since early ages have sought to object to or overthrow established rules.

Analyzing Potentially New Genres in Political Communication: Generic Properties of the Discourse of Conflict  (PDF)

Paulina Krolikowska 

Abstract: The aim of this article is to describe a model for analyzing potentially new genres in political communication, which has been developed as part of a doctoral dissertation on generic properties of the discourse of conflict illustrated by an analysis of the Israeli political discourse on the conflict in the Middle East. This study and the model it proposes come as a response to the problem of approaching newly developing and/or hybridizing structures of political communication, which receives growing attention in the domain of Political Linguistics. The proposed model draws on concepts from genre studies conducted within well-established linguistic disciplines and perspectives, and supplements them with new insights that derive directly from the data analyzed. For these purposes, a cognitive-pragmatic critical approach was used, which entailed a detailed qualitative analysis of the speeches of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but this article illustrates the core of the proposed model on the basis of one selected Netanyahu‟s speech. So far, there have been no attempts at analyzing generic properties of the discourse of conflict and this study illustrates how researchers can approach such complex phenomena and how the results of such analyses might contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of conflicts not only in linguistics, but also in the interdisciplinary domain of peace and conflict studies.

The Role of the Law of Communication in Romania - A Brief Presentation

Diana Petrescu 

Abstract: This paper aims to present the essential legal issues which lie at the basis of communication. The evolution of the society under all its aspects (economic, social, cultural, scientific), closely related to the spread of communication, would not have been possible without some means of communication which facilitate it and without a judicial framework that provides for the legal protection. Within this context, we will present the following roles of the law of communication: to regulate the judicial standards, to establish the social relations with all its aspects which lie within the framework of interpersonal communication. An efficient communication is responsible for the worldwide spread of progress in all areas of activity. Thus a complex regulatory framework is compulsory in order to allow and facilitate communication at all levels and under all its forms.

Connecting Stories: Telecommunication Brands, their Narratives and the Paradigm in Mobile Phone Advertising  (PDF)

Paul Springer, Mădălina Moraru (Buga)

Abstract: This paper considers the narratives in mobile phone commercials during a period of unprecedented market expansion. How was the fastest growing global sector in 2012 sold to consumers in different countries and cultures, and how have mobile brands, that differentiate themselves on service personality, conveyed their uniqueness within different global markets? The following research identifies regional characteristics in genres of mobile telecommunications advertising, including motivations and modes of address deployed for different geographic territories. By tracking narrative patterns through a significant sample of mobile commercials we have chartered the variety of message types, identified how brands have used localised customer insights and adjusted to regional variations. Conclusions highlight storytelling techniques used within glocal creative strategies of multinational campaigns, plus the nuances and patterns of targeted and generic campaigns.

The Media as a Tool for Creating Political Subordination in President Putin’s Russia  (PDF)

Dmitry L. Strovsky 

Abstract: The development of the contemporary Russian media causes great concern. This relates, first of all, to the level of objectivity of information on the most pivotal issues of the day. The reduction in its quality, following the media coverage of the most pivotal issues in international and domestic politics, seems to have been extraordinary since 2000, after Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s coming to power. Except for purely political and economic changes that occurred in the country over the last 15 years, the past period was marked by the transformation of the media leading to a specific situation in which journalists seem to be unable to properly fulfill their professional duties. It concerns the whole spectrum of issues being covered by the Russian media following specific relationships between politics and the media in Russia. The author reviews the main tendencies relating to this topic, together with the media content promoted in existing conditions and aims to distinguish the main trends in the evolution of the modern media, together with Putin‘s decisions securing political partisanship of mass information.

An Analytical Model of Language Adaptation in Religious Texts. An Outline Proposal  (PDF)

Wiesław Szałaj 

Abstract: In the article, I present a four-parameter model of meaning analysis in adaptive speech acts (ASAs). The model is used, as an analytical tool, to identify the adaptive power hidden in the language expressions in a given field of culture (extracted by definition). As an example, I have chosen religion as a field of culture and the books of the New Testament as sets of language expressions to find their adaptive possibilities. The model is based on Piaget‟s (1965) adaptation by assimilation and accommodation, Maslow‟s (1943) adaptation through physiological limitations, and Duranti‟s (1999) intermediary adaptation. To implement these adaptive theories, I use Saussure‟s (1959) structural definition of language, Halliday‟s (1973) functional definition of language, Searle‟s (1969) speech acts, and Szałaj‟s (2014) adaptive hypothesis of language and culture.

City Brand Building in Social Media (Official Profile of Poznan on FACEBOOK)  (PDF)

Urszula Wich-Szymczak 

Abstract: The article focuses on a research on two areas of image building. The first is describing general thoughts about city brand building and current trends in this area. There are taken into consideration issues such as city marketing goals, history, identity, impact of city identity on its image, what city identity is exactly and who creates it. Then city is shown as a special, unusual product to be promoted. Then the author tries to answer the question what to do to make the city brand visible in the consumers' minds nowadays? How to exist in virtual reality without visual identification? Next step is to show how to create a good sign of the city and what should it provide? It is said how the city communicates with clients using visual identification - it is as important as the quality of services, as available portfolio, or mission of the company where the consumer operates on a rational level. In the case of the logo it may affect at an emotional level. Positive image will also build a good relationship with the proximal and distal environment, which in turn can lead to a better product position in comparison to those of the same price range. In this part of article it is clarified why the sign of the city of Poznan has been changed. The second area of interest is cumulated around the image building on the official Facebook profile of City of Poznan. They are a platform for the opinion exchange, and consequently, the citizens' creation.