Implicit Text Messages and Countermeanings Conceptual Designs

Abstract

In this study, whose theoretical foundation is Argumentative Semantics, we research the implicit contents proposed by Oswald Ducrot, presuppositions and presumptions, since the meanings and the countermeanings are configured in the said and unsaid of the enunciated. We discuss the concepts and the performance of the presuppositions and presumptions, mentioning authors who are also based on Ducrot’s contributions. We consider presupposition a mechanism inscribed in the language itself, and the resulting implicit movements act, consequently, as strong argumentative elements. This study intermediates a contact with the text’s implicit messages, contributing to the anchoring of the countermeaning to Argumentative Semantics and, consequently, its conceptual design, as a non-linear content to the text extension, whose examination demonstrates, in a veiled way, an idea different from the meaning previously linked to the enunciated. We illustrate the movements of the meanings and the countermeanings by means of advertising pieces that promote rejuvenating cosmetics, in order to show different stances – hiding the age (advertising) and accepting the age (Gerontology) – which provide a solid basis for the emergence of the countermeaning as a semantic phenomenon. We note the complementarity between meanings and countermeanings, which function as an implicit argumentative strategy and transmit effects of meaning.

Keywords

• argumentative semantics
• implicit messages
• countermeaning