Generic changes in Hong Kong print advertisements : the case of Sing Tao Daily

Abstract

本研究基于吴东英、钟美琼 (2004)的研究框架,结合当代传播学和当代语言学的科学分析方法,追踪分析21世纪以来香港中文报刊《星岛日报》广告文本的特点、变化和发展。研究发 现:回归10周年至15周年间,香港中文广告进一步体现多语、多文化社会的特征,具体表现在广告主题与20世纪相比,更着重强调具象征意义的价值,强调现 代化和西化的价值取向,如"独特""享乐""自我实现"等价值;广告语言呈现更多的感染性,使用纯英文,口语、通俗的表达与文雅词藻、句式的糅合现象尤为 明显。文章最后详细分析了香港广告文本的变迁与经济、文化全球化发展变化的联系。 The study presents an updated investigation of the generic changes in Hong Kong print advertisements based on the framework by Wu & Chung(2004),incorporating the approach of content analysis in communication research with linguistic feature analysis,and examining the transformation of language and discursive practice in Hong Kong print advertisements between 2007 and 2012(i.e.,the year marking the 10 th anniversary and the15 th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Return to China respectively).The corpus of print advertisements for this study was based on and obtained from the well-known and popular Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong― Sing Tao Daily.It is found that the advertisements reflect a strong presence of the multilingual and multicultural characteristics of Hong Kong society today.An enhanced use of symbolic values,particularly the modern and western values such as"Uniqueness","Enjoyment"and"Self-fulfillment"were found as the advertising themes in contemporary Hong Kong.Simultaneously,there was an escalating trend of using linguistic involvement and prevalent use of linguistic features such as pure English use,English mixed with Cantonese,and a combination of both oral and literary features in the Chinese print advertisements.Finally,the paper discusses the generic changes in Hong Kong print advertisements in relation to cultural globalization and the socio-economic transformation in Hong Kong society.