A comparative critical discourse analysis of selected commercial banking advertisements published in the press during a decade of transition and socio-political transformation in South Africa (March to May 1994 and March to May 2004)
Date
2009-03-13T11:34:17Z
Authors
Chidi, Maselepe Phineas
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study compared selected commercial bank advertisements published in 1994 with
those published in 2004.Its purpose was to establish whether advertising discourses found
in these texts reflect the socio-political changes that occurred in South Africa between
1994 and 2004.It further sought to identify the features of the advertisements that
appeared during these periods in order to determine if there have been any shifts in
discourses during this time. This qualitative research relied heavily on Fairclough’s
theory and method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) for both its theoretical
framework and data analysis. In the data analysis section, a need arose to employ some of
the tools of semiotic analysis as provided by Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996) ‘grammar
of visual analysis’ as well as a limited form of Thematic Content Analysis. Data analysis
began with a thematic content analysis of all 36 advertisements collected for this study in
order to gain a broader perspective of the range of themes covered by these
advertisements. This was followed by a comparative detailed Critical Discourse Analysis
of two representative pairs of advertisements from 1994 and 2004 to illustrate the
behaviour of advertising discourses at these two distinctly different historical junctures.
While the research has found some reproductions of discourses from the 1994 period in
the 2004 advertisements, it has also revealed that there have been shifts in the discourses
between 1994 and 2004.There is also evidence to suggest that in some instances the shifts
have more to do with the ways in which the discourses are communicated rather than
clear changes in the discourses as such. In the main, the study found that advertising
discourses, because of their hybridism and social embeddedness, tend to mirror the sociopolitical
context in which they are produced and distributed. As a result, they can be said
to reflect the changes and challenges faced by society at the time of their production.
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Keywords
comparative critical discourse analysis, bank advertisements, press, transition and socio-political transformation, South Africa