Discourse construal of advertising worlds: concept taste in comparative perspective

The article provides comparative analysis of advertising discourse projectivity realized as intentional construal of symbolic worlds encompassing pragmatically determined conceptual entities (concepts). Commercial advertising constructs advertising worlds different from the real world. The choice of linguistic units reflects world construal selectivity. It determined by the fact that culturally relevant information is chosen and systematized due to the pragmatic aims of advertising communication. The focus of the article is on concept TASTE regularly objectified in British and Russian commercial advertising discourse. It is argued that the greater the potential of semiotic expression of the concept, the more important this concept is in a sociocultural community. The analysis of dictionary definitions reveals universal characteristics of the concept TASTE ( sensation, one of the five senses, a person's liking for particular flavors). On the level of key words and notions the corresponding concepts demonstrate principal similarity of characteristics. As verbalized in Russian advertising the discussed concept adds one more characteristic - pleasure. The analysis of text representations in British and Russian advertising underscores great value of the concept TASTE in this particular type of discourse. The basic lexemes nominating the concept are taste / вкус, aroma, flavour / аромат, запах, yumminess / вкуснятина. The structure of the concept includes minimum of factual information. Expressivity is mostly foregrounded by means of linguistic units with emotional-expressive semantics. Such elements appeal to sensory perception that forms customers’ loyalty to the advertised product in Britain and Russia. The interpretational zone of the concept in two discourses presents different types of assessment connected with sensations, people’s physical and mental experience. General positive qualification of the concept is expressed by adjectives and forms the perceptive image of taste ( authentic / настоящий, excellent / пре красный, fabulous / потрясающий ). Detailed sensory assessment is embodied in a different set of adjectives ( mild / мяг кий, delicate, tender / нежный ). Aesthetic assessment is found in British advertising ( elegant ) and finds no evidence in the Russian discourse. Ameliorative assessment is a hallmark of the concept TASTE in British and Russian advertising. It projects the emotional perception of the product by the potential buyers.