10 Terms
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General language
Use this category for general terms related to languages.
Industry: Language
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General language
Metonymy
Language; General language
A metonym is a figure of speech involving using one signified to stand for another signified which is directly related to it or closely associated with it in some way, notably the substitution of ...
Modes of address
Language; General language
Implicit and explicit ways in which aspects of the style, structure and/or content of a text function to 'position' readers as subjects ('ideal readers') (e.g. in relation to class, age, gender and ...
Primacy of the signifier
Language; General language
The argument that 'reality' or 'the world' is at least partly created by the language (and other media) we use insists on the primacy of the signifier - suggesting that the signified is shaped by ...
Preferred reading
Language; General language
This is a term which Stuart Hall originally used in relation to television news and current affairs programmes but which is often applied to other kinds of text. Readers of a text are guided ...
Poststructuralism
Language; General language
Whilst poststructuralism is often interpreted simply as 'anti-structuralism', it is worth noting that the label refers to a school of thought which developed after, out of, and in relation to ...
Poetic function
Language; General language
In Jakobson's model of linguistic communication the dominance of any one of six factors within an utterance reflects a different linguistic function. In utterances where the poetic function is ...
Polyvocality
Language; General language
In contrast to univocality, this is the use of multiple voices as a narrative mode within a text, typically in order to encourage diverse readings rather than to promote a preferred reading.
