GENRE ANALYSIS
1. Intuitive description of context
A quick reading of a text makes it possible to make a preliminary analysis of the genre.
This is done on the basis of personal experience, world knowledge, knowledge about the
field and conventions in the field, and knowledge about language use in specific texts.
2. Reading relevant literature
To support the analysis, it is recommendable to read various literature about the genre in
question, about professionals’ attitudes and discussions of genre theory and about
methods to be used in the analysis of text and image.
3. Determination of context
An analysis and determination of context includes for instance sender-receiver
relationship, situational and intercultural aspects such as national and organizational
culture, media, channel, time, place and ideology/ orientation.
4. Delimitation of corpus and genre analysis – three levels
It is necessary to determine criteria for the definition of genre and sub-genres of the text
in question. This is done on the basis of context, communicative purpose(s) and
distinctive textual characteristics.
Genre analysis: level 1: Communicative purpose(s)
The communicative purpose is a crucial genre determinant and plays an important role in
structuring the genre. It is possible to find the communicative purpose(s) by analyzing the
move-structure of the text.
Genre analysis: level 2: Move-structure
Authors follow specific conventions when they organize messages and this is what
constitutes recognizable genres. When organizing texts as ‘goal-oriented social processes
moving through stages’ (Martin 1997), authors produce moves, which may be obligatory
or facultative.
Genre analysis: level 3: Rhetorical strategies
Analysis of the rhetorical and visual strategies used, i.e. the frequency of specific
syntactic structures, specific lexical items or specific images serve the purpose of
substantiating the intuitive impression received when glancing through a text.
Selected examples of rhetorical strategies:
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lexis (e.g. scientific vocabulary, Latinate words or terminology characteristic of a
particular profession field
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connotation
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change of code (dialect, sociolect, etc.)
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imagery, metaphors, personification, etc.
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specific syntactic structures such as ellipsis, repetition, parallelism, etc.
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specific syntactic structures such as nominal style, the passive voice, the active
voice
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specific language functions (description, narration, explanation, argumentation,
etc.)
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intertextuality (relying on the reader’s awareness of other texts or text-parts).
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Interdiscoursivity (embedding or imitation of other text genres).
Frandsen, Johansen & Nielsen (1997): International Markedskommunikation I en
postmoderne verden. Viborg: Systime
Christi & Martin (eds) (1997): Genre and Institutions, Social Processes in the Workplace
and School. London and Washington: Cassell.