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The internal organization of minimal topic segments in reader’s letters published in newspapers of São Paulo State in the 21st century

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Author(s):
Gabriela Andrade de Oliveira
Total Authors: 1
Document type: Master's Dissertation
Press: São José do Rio Preto. 2016-10-17.
Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas. São José do Rio Preto
Defense date:
Advisor: Eduardo Penhavel de Souza
Abstract

This study is developed within the framework of Text Linguistics, particularly in its dimension known as Textual-Interactive Grammar. The general purpose is to investigate the process of topic organization in readers’ letters published in current newspapers in the State of São Paulo. More specifically, this research focuses on one aspect of the topic organization process, namely the internal organization of minimal topic segments (intratopic organization) and comprises two objectives: (i) to investigate readers’ letters of current São Paulo’s newspapers in order to see whether, in these letters, it is possible to identify a general rule of intratopic organization; (ii) to compare current readers’ letters with letters published in the 19th century regarding topic organization. The investigation follows the method of topic analysis (Jubran, 2006), which provides textual analysis based on the analytical category of discourse topic, and the corpus used consists of readers’ letters from the newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and O Estado de S. Paulo. Regarding to the first objective, the results show the existence of a general rule in the internal organization of minimal topic segments in the analyzed letters, which predicts the potential sequencing of the following units: Explanation, Position, Support, Interpellation and Upshot. In relation to the second objective, which includes the diachronic comparison, the main result is the observation of a change in intratopic organization (the drastic decrease in the frequency of Interpellation), which seems to be related to the fact that readers’ letters, diachronically, change from a central sociocommunicative purpose of complaint and request to a main purpose of expression of opinion. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 15/03167-9 - A study of the internal organization of minimal topic segments in reader's letters published in newspapers of the State of São Paulo in the 21st Century
Grantee:Gabriela Andrade de Oliveira
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master