Disertaciones (Aug 2010)
Divulgative Discourse in Genetic Engineering. Pragmatic-Semantic Analysis
Abstract
The objectives of this research are to identify, describe and explain the lexical, semantic and practical strategies and resources utilized in producing divulgative discourse related to genetic engineering. The applied methodology is qualitative and related to discourse analysis, which makes it possible, by using abduction, to reveal particularities of the message production process and its links with the intentionality of the emitter. The most important conclusions of the study reveal: 1) that the discourse analyzed as having a notable similarity to the specialized discourse of biology (traditional and molecular) reiterates the presence of lexical, semantic and discursive strategies and resources connected with that discursive practice. 2) An adjustment exists between the use of these strategies and resources and the emitter’s intentionality: the objectives of informing, persuading and demonstrating configure an asymmetrical communicative relationship between the emitter and the receiver. 3) Methodologies provided by the pragmatic-semantic analysis that of constructing conceptual networks are appropriate for producing messages about science and technology with a low conceptual density, and therefore, with a greater possibility of being understood by the average mass receiver.
