The text and the corpus: opportunities and limits of semiotic analysis in advertising

Abstract

The essay investigates the methodological issues emerging from the analysis of advertising, with particular attention given to its new forms. Moving from my research and teaching activity, I attempted to show the analytical opportunities offered by a semiotic gaze, yet even some of the limitations as well. Indeed, such an approach may not offer all the answers to the scholar who intends to investigate an object, such as advertising, which is constantly changing and evolving in more and more hybrid and transmedial forms. Within this particular perspective, I analyze here the theoretical difference between ‘corpus’ and ‘text’, which I believe is ever so inappropriate in understanding our analytical practice regarding the advertising object.