"It's up to all of us": Social Identity in the Language of Public Warnings - Peter Lang Publishing
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CINZIA SPINZI / ELIANA TERMINIELLO1
“It’s up to all of us”: Social Identity in the
Language of Public Warnings
1. Introduction
Recent studies from anthropology and social constructionism (Berger/
Luckman 1966) have shown how identity is not a stable but an “ever-
changing” (Androutsopoulos/Georgakopoulou 2003: 1) “extremely
complex construct” and that social identity is enacted in discourse (De
Fina 2003: 15). A similar instability characterizes the boundaries and
laws that identify the concept of nationhood in which people are
engaged by taking on “typical behaviour patterns” (Bloor/Bloor 2007:
86) which are ethically and socially determined. In the context of this
study, public warnings and notices represent a type of genre where
“membershipping strategies” are very important and where consensus
is expressed between “governors and governed as regards the very
social norms and values they convey” (Riley 2007: 118-119). Public
notices are defined here as announcements from any branch of
government or public services, which perform several functions such
as informing, alerting and inviting people to participate in the
democratic process of the community.
The research question in this chapter concerns the identification
of the strategies of social identity construction in the field of public
communication via images and writing. Basically, what we argue here
is that, despite the apparent straightforwardness, these texts imply
more than they explicitly say. Moreover, these implied meanings work
1 The authors have conceived the article together. More specifically Cinzia
Spinzi is responsible for sections 1; 2; 4; and sub-section 4.3; Eliana
Terminiello for section 3 and sub-sections 4.1; 4.2. The conclusions are co-
authored.
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as identification devices which differ across two cultures: English and
Italian. Since a large number of public organisations use public
warnings, we consider them as units of a wider social institution.
As Duszak points out, these inferences are relevant to identity
construction because they give rise to “mental representations of
people and develop attitudes of social solidarity and detachment”
(2002: 9). These “mental representations”, also known as ideologies,
have a cognitive and social function: they work as belief organisers
and social group identifying devices. In Duszak’s words, “they allow
individuals to sanction their social practices through reference to
collective interests and systems of value” (2002: 7). In addition to this,
the value system works as a ‘cohesive’ element in a community
(Douthwaite 2005: 107) which ensures the transmission of the norms
it includes through social institutions. Hence, ‘discourse’ is here the
main analytical category, since it combines the text structural
organisation with the social practices set up in specific communicative
situations, also at an institutional and at a more general social level.
Social and discourse practices (Fairclough 1989) are crucial in the
process of forging identities and their evolution in time and space,
namely in the ways in which subscription to a group is established.
Working within the interdisciplinary perspective of Critical
Discourse Analysis (henceforth CDA), grounded in Systemic
Functional Linguistics, the analysis also draws insights from cross-
cultural studies (Hofstede 2001) for a better understanding of
similarities and dissimilarities in identification strategies between the
English and Italian cultures. We will attempt to demonstrate how
identity and social structures are reflected in the language of public
communication, but also how language reinforces the identity of a
national community and its culture via values of public concern (i.e.
justice, security and democracy). Furthermore, identities are mediated
in public notices at several levels through multimodal choices,
persuasive strategies and cognitive frames. As we will show, apart
from some common core values, identity mechanisms are quite
different across the two cultures.
After an outline of the theoretical background to the study in
Section 2, our criteria in collecting data and the methodological steps
will be illustrated in Section 3. The analysis will start in Section 4 and
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after some preliminary considerations, texts will be analysed
semiotically and linguistically in separate sub-sections. Conclusions
will be drawn in the last section of the chapter.
2. Research frameworks: a combination
of theoretical perspectives
The focal point of our analysis lies in the notion that ideologies,
considered as systems of beliefs, perform identifying tasks and
represent the basic social features characterizing a group – objectives,
values and norms. In order to pin down the discursive traits that
encode these identifying social values and norms, the theoretical
background of this chapter is based on a number of different but
nonetheless related scholarly fields. To begin with, our orientation is a
functional one which sees language as ‘social practice’ (Halliday
1978, 1994; Halliday/Hasan 1985). Focusing on the cognitive aspect
of ideologies, van Dijk (2000: 21) considers them the “basis of social
representations shared by members of a group” which may also share
evaluative beliefs, namely opinions organized into social attitudes. In
his words:
ideologies are localized between societal structures and the structures of the
minds of social members. They allow social actors to ‘translate’ their social
properties (identity, goal, position, etc.) into the knowledge and beliefs that
make up the concrete models of their everyday life experiences, that is the
mental representations of their actions and discourse. Indirectly (viz., through
attitudes and knowledge), therefore, ideologies control how people plan and
understand their social practices, and hence also the structures of text and talk.
(van Dijk 2000: 21)
Hence, preserving the interests of those with power in society and
legitimising the actions of the social users, ideologies find their
clearest expression in language (Fowler 1991; van Dijk 2001). This
critical concept is included in a reformulated version of CDA as an
approach which entails a specific view of interdisciplinary research.
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This ‘transdisciplinary’ approach (Fairclough 2006) assembles diverse
disciplinary resources for particular research projects and is based on a
dialectical view of the relationship between semiosis and other non-
semiotic elements of social life (cf. Fairclough 2006). Subscribing to
the CDA theory of ideology will help to illustrate the interaction
between discourse and society, namely how social identities are
affected by the social and ideological status quo and vice versa
(Fairclough/Wodak 1997: 258). In doing so, we will attend to those
features of discourse that signal boundary-markers, perspectives and
interests which are relevant to identity construction. To this end,
Fairclough’s lexical, grammar and relational macro categories
(Fairclough 1989) will be fundamental. Emphasis will be given to two
dimensions: the experiential, which refers to the addresser’s way of
representing reality and the relational, as relational values are widely
accepted as useful in this area due to “their power to enact social
liasons” (Magistro 2007: 56).
Another construct relied upon in this chapter comes from the
notion of ‘face’, defined in Brown/Levinson (1987: 61) as “the public
self-image that every member wants to claim for himself. […] [Face]
can be lost, maintained or enhanced, and must be constantly attended
to in interaction”. Strictly associated with it is the concept of
‘politeness’ (Brown/Levinson 1987: 61-70), which is also useful in
this context as it helps to see whether and how the indirect discursive
mechanisms implemented by the two institutions are smoothed in their
peremptory character.
Relying on Kress/van Leeuwen’s (1996/2006) visual grammar,
the semiotic analysis carried out in this work uses the following
notions: ‘information value’, i.e. “the placement of elements” which
“endows them with the specific informational values attached to the
various ‘zones’ of the image”; ‘salience’, which refers to the elements
that contribute to attracting “the viewer’s attention to different
degrees, as realized by such factors as placement in the foreground or
background, relative size, contrasts in tonal value (or colour),
difference in sharpness, etc.”; finally, ‘framing’, which looks at “the
presence or absence of framing devices (realized by elements which
create dividing lines, or by actual frame lines)” that disconnects or
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connects elements of the image, signifying that they belong or do not
belong together in some sense” (cf. Kress/van Leuween 2006: 177).
In a comparative perspective, another important distinction is
that between High Context Cultures and Low Context Cultures, with
the former being more context-oriented (e.g. Italian) and the latter
being more text-oriented (e.g. English) (cf. Katan 2004: 245). This
difference comes to the fore in our research because ‘contexting’ (Hall
1989:85-128), namely cultural orientation, can influence the
discursive mechanisms used to address the public. In addition to this,
one of Hofstede’s original dimensions of culture will be relied upon,
i.e. ‘power distance’, defined as the higher or lower tendency towards
an egalitarian view of society (Hofstede 1997/2005).2 As far as this
parameter is concerned, according to Hofstede’s (2001) data, Italy
appears to be more hierarchically organised with respect to the UK
and scores higher as a power distance country.
3. Data and methodological orientations
The data for our investigation come from a small customized corpus,
still at a pilot stage, but sufficient to carry out the analysis. The whole
corpus includes 50 public notices or warnings of which 30 are English
and 20 Italian. Three main criteria are behind the two corpora: same
topic, same textual genres, same one-year time-span, namely 2006.
They are in line with the external criteria selected for the design of a
corpus as stated by Sinclair: “the contents of a corpus should be
selected without regard for the language they contain, but according to
their communicative function in the community in which they arise”
(2005: 5). Most of them were collected on or around means of
2 More specifically, Hofstede defines power distance as “the extent to which the
less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country
expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (2005: 28). Hofstede’s
other original dimensions of culture are ‘uncertainty avoidance’, ‘individual-
ism vs. collectivism’ and ‘masculinity vs. femininity’.
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transport in London and Rome and selected according to two macro
thematic categories: Public Spirit (henceforth PS) and Safety and
Security (henceforth SS). Overall, these texts serve a utilitarian
purpose by giving instructions or information, but they also convey
ideas and beliefs even though implicitly.
Since identity, as stated in the introduction, is a very complex
concept to map, in order to get a holistic view of this phenomenon in
our corpus, a bottom-up approach is necessary. Letting the text speak
for itself, all the elements that contribute to identity construction are
considered (van De Mieroop 2007: 1122), which may be outlined in
three main steps. First, relying on Kress/van Leeuwen (1996),
attention is paid to the semiotic organisation of the warnings both in
English and Italian, in order to retrieve the salient cultural
peculiarities. Second, the texts are analysed according to Fairclough’s
macro-categories (lexical, grammatical and textual) and, in
particular, according to lexical patterns, collocations, pronouns,
tenses and aspect. Finally, a comparative analysis across the two
languages and cultures is carried out to illustrate the main
differences with reference to value systems, cultural beliefs and
values underlying visuals and words.
4. ‘Verbality and visuality’: anatomy and analysis
As mentioned in the introduction to this study, public notices invoke a
set of culturally-defined assumptions as to “what is appropriate
behaviour on the part of specific groups” (Riley 2007: 119) and also
point to the procedures employed by society to manage the relation-
ship between the state and the individual. In both cultures considered
here, the public is addressed by means of different strategies and
textual practices which, in any given situation, tell us about the
identities available in the society and their values. Thus, the analysis
here refers to a lower layer of the hierarchy of ‘levels of culture’,
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namely those usually labelled as ‘culture-specific value orientations’
(Katan 2006: 61).
A cursory glance at the corpus immediately brings to light the
ever-present please, which contributes to making institutions
requests more polite and friendly if compared with the less frequent
Italian formula si prega di [you are kindly requested to]. The more
impersonal Italian approach, which echoes the formulation of legal
prohibitions, is set up against the long and detailed wording of
English texts about how to act in dangerous situations, for example
telling people how they should carry their handbag in order to avoid
being robbed (see Figure 4). The institution parades its expertise by
illustrating the techniques that pickpockets use, representing them
also pictorially. Whereas the English notice relies on a strong
overlap between images and text, creating perhaps redundancy, the
Italian one counts more on a union between the two or in some cases
leaves the viewer to interpret the message relying only on images
(cf. Katan 2006).
Although the two notices below (Figure 1) serve the same
function, i.e. encouraging passengers on a bus to give up their seats
to elderly or handicapped persons, a careful look at the them shows a
striking difference in the way in which the two societies legitimate
“a repertoire of social identities, and of the relations between the
authorities and subjects or citizens” (Riley 2007: 119). In the English
version, where the message is expressed only by means of words, the
institution is asking the citizen to do something (give up this space)
politely (please), appealing to ‘necessity’; the Italian notice attempts
to be clear in a more visual and emotional way triggering family
values. In both cases social solidarity is evoked:
(1) Please give up this space if an elderly or handicapped person needs it.
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Figure 1. Rome metro train. (Si ricorda che questo posto è riservato. [This is to remind
you that this seat is reserved.])
4.1. Analysis: the visual component
Symbols and icons are largely adopted in public communication,
where the visual has become part of the world, which once was mostly
dominated by language (Kress/van Leeuwen 1996). Broadly speaking,
in contemporary society, texts are a ‘multi-semiotic’ (Fairclough
1995) combination of language and other types of semiosis such as
photographs and diagrams, where: “even the graphic design of the
page, […] is becoming an ever more salient factor in evaluation of
written texts” (Fairclough 1995: 4). Citizens are constantly surrounded
by an increasing amount of information that mostly demands the
viewer the pragmatic competence of “reading between the lines”
(Kress/van Leeuwen 1996: 13). This is the kind of competence
required to decode public warnings where forms and meanings are in
close motivated relation with each other. Considering warnings as
instances of “integrated text” (Kress/ van Leeuwen 1996), the shape of
the image, its location and its colours might confirm, foster, promote
the contents of a text, or vice versa.
Starting the analysis by looking at ‘semiotic vocabulary’, we
can safely state that a widespread image in the English corpus is
represented by luggage, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
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Figure 2. London tube train.
The inclusion in a circle of the icon representing luggage (Figure 2) is
relevant to the purpose of this research because, semiotically
speaking, circles and curved forms are generally associated with
elements of mystery (Kress/van Leeuwen 1996). The circle which
contains the luggage icon may represent the institution’s strategy to
provoke citizens’ alertness towards any potential risk. Placed on the
left-hand side of the notice in the position of ‘already given’ (Kress/
van Leeuwen 1996), the luggage icon represents something familiar to
anyone who travels, something that the viewer is assumed to know
already, because it is part of the general culture and, in particular, of
those who regularly travel by tube. Positioned in the middle of Figure
3, the luggage icon embodies the “nucleus of the information on
which all the other elements are in some sense subservient” (Kress/
van Leeuwen 1996: 206).
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Figure 3. Outside Victoria station in London.
Here, the Given/Ideal, the most salient part, is the picture of the black
suitcase standing out clearly against a yellow background. The visual
conveys the message that London is a dangerous city and, ‘as the
reader knows’, he/she might be robbed anywhere and at any time. The
question that follows, “Who’s got your property?” represents the
New/Real component of the warning, which most deserves the
reader’s attention. Indeed, the underlining of the word your reveals the
‘fatherly’ presence of the institution, which is warning citizens against
the risk of being affected in their private life. Thus, the sign
encourages the citizen to look around. Doubt has been triggered in the
citizen’s mind and, relying on the ‘already known’, the addresser
establishes a connection with the recipient. Again, danger seems to
dominate the context in Figure 4, too, where passers-by are plunged
into a real scene, a dramatization:
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Figure 4. London tube station. Pickpockets and handbag thieves are operating in this
area. Be aware of who’s around you when you’re shopping. Pickpockets use
distraction techniques to steal from bags. Wear your bag with the strap across
your body, so that it opens on the side facing you. Avoid carrying valuables in
the outside pockets of rucksacks. Keep your bag or briefcase where you can
see it at all times. Who’s looking after your bag?
None of the people depicted in the picture is looking at the camera:
this lack of interaction with the viewer stimulates the recipient’s
ability to “scrutinize the represented characters as specimen […] in a
display case” (Kress/van Leeuwen 1996: 41). Drawing on a real
picture, the institution brutally puts the viewer before an ‘expected’
event. Here, once again, it is worth noting the framed bag in the left-
hand corner. Also the correspondent Italian warning emphasises the
techniques used by pickpockets:
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Figure 5. Rome metro station.
The picture, in the salient position on the left, specifies what might
happen if travellers do not pay enough attention to their property. By
adopting a different device, that is, cartoon characters, the Italian
institution plays the role of a ‘guru’ “initiating all communication”
(Katan 2006: 79), or of a teacher resorting to a sketch in order to
explain the main points of a discipline, appealing more to the
stereotypical simplicity of a cartoon image than to a photograph
(Ryan/Schwartz 1956). Furthermore, the multilingual captions
increase the number of recipients united by concern for a common
core value: security. The paradoxical representation in the warning of
the three-armed cartoon characters deserves attention because of its
enormous impact: by ‘reading between the images’ the reader infers
that danger might be everywhere and that pickpockets are skilful and
fast. More expressive than its English counterpart, the Italian notice
invites a more distanced and formal relation with the viewer showing
a ‘paternalistic’ (Katan 2006: 72) attitude.
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Keeping in mind that “frames, icons, images reflect, represent
and reveal a community’s values, norms, culture and history” (Cross
2006: 184), the British value of civic responsibility is ‘behind’ Figure 6:
Figure 6. (SS) London tube train.
Two meaningful drawings have been put in the lower part of the notice
and both symbolise technology in action and represent two different ways
of encoding ‘emergency’ and ‘control’. The ‘promptitude of inter-
vention’, conveyed by the image on the left, is completed by the idea of
supervision conveyed by the camera picture on the right. The institution
is always there, looking after its citizens by providing an immediate
support due to an imminent danger and, at the same time, asking them
to play an active role in the protection of the ‘common good’.
The same attitude of control for public property preservation is
encoded in the Italian warnings. However, the device chosen is
different: the simple sketch of a video surveillance camera is the
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salient element, whereas the blank space accompanying it leaves the
viewer almost stunned and puzzled inferring that this object may be
everywhere: since much can be ideologically inferred from what is not
there (cf. Fairclough 1995), the empty space presumably suggests that
there is always someone – an undefined entity – watching and
controlling the station.
Figure 7. Rome metro station. (Stazione Videosorvegliata. La registrazione è
effettuata da Vigilanza per conto Met.Ro. Spa. Per fini di tutela del
patrimonio. Aut. Min. [Station under surveillance. Recordings are made by
Met.Ro Inc. For the purpose of protecting common goods. Government
authorization.])
Unlike English notices where the combination of the visual and the
verbal text also conveys an idea of assistance and attention towards the
citizens, creating a ‘common ground’ on which values and objectives are
shared by the speaker and the recipient, its Italian counterpart relies more
on the image, without establishing any relation with the addressee.
Another element worth underlining relates to the means of com-
munication used in British society: all the warnings issued by the
Network Rail resort to a typical business letter layout with a headline,
‘Victoria’, and a symbol (in Figure 8 a man throwing litter in the bin),
which represents “the information at issue” (Kress/van Leeuwen 1996:
187). Moreover, the sender’s identification and position, clearly stated in
the text, contribute to conferring a personal quality to this communication.
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Figure 8. Victoria station.
For lack of space not all the warnings included in the corpus can be dis-
cussed here, but it is worth pointing out that the strategies investigated
are common to most of them. For instance, the Italian notices tend to
use images and signs more than the English ones, even when the
message concerns important rules about safety, as in Figure 9.
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Figure 9. (PS) Rome train station.
In particular, the iconic expression reflects the institution’s conventional
way of constructing its own identity. Prohibition signs frequently recur
in order to guide the citizen towards correct behaviour, hence the
graphic framing can be interpreted as the visual representation of
modality. As Eco (1976: 204) points out: “at a certain point the iconic
representation […] appears to be more true than the real experience, and
people begin to look at things through the glasses of iconic convention”.
The vertical layout of Figure 9, where the dominant position has been
assigned to what is not allowed, indicates a kind of hierarchical scale.
Indeed, the addresser distances the receiver by showing first what
citizens must avoid doing and then what they are obliged to do.
4.2. A glance at the logo
A semiotic investigation of identity construction cannot ignore the
presence of logos positioned at the beginning or at the end of the
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notices. A logo is a graphical element that is designed to elicit
immediate recognition by the viewer (Figures 10 and 11).
Figure 10. English logos.
Figure 11. An Italian logo.
The investigation here intends to uncover the effect these logos have
on the reader. First, their presence enables the viewer to have direct
contact with the institutions these logos represent, making the message
less impersonal; second, their frequent reproduction creates a sense of
familiarity, as the reader recognizes colours, brand names and slogans.
In addition to this, the presence of more than one logo, very common
in the English signs, visually communicates a form of collaboration
between the various organisations, which are thus represented as
working to achieve the same goal. Whereas in the English examples
the logo strategy fosters a sense of confidence on one hand and a
sense of assurance on the other, in their Italian counterparts it rarely
shows up.
4.3. The verbal aspect in notices
Vocabulary is the most eye-catching aspect of a text where words can
take on expressive values, namely they can persuade people to favour or
disfavour certain views. As anticipated in the analysis of notices
concerning luggage, the concept of dread seems to be pervasive in the
English sub-corpus as shown by the occurrences of words semantically
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related to the idea of risks (suspicious, hazard, danger). A study
conducted on the Bank of English3 of the collocational profile by t-
score of the adjective suspicious, which occurs quite often in the
English notices has shown that it collocates more frequently with words
such as circumstances, nature, glance. Behaviour as an associate word
has been found only 26 times in the whole Bank of English and all its
occurrences are from the written part of the corpus which includes
newspapers. This seems to testify that suspicious behaviour as well as
suspicious items (only eleven instances in the Bank of English) are rare
combinations and, presumably, recent collocations typical of discourses
on crime. In this respect, example (2) is a case in point.
(2) VICTORIA ASSAULT. Verbal or Physical. The right to work without fear
Our people have the right to work without fear or any form of intimation. This
station uses CCTV recorded 24 hours & patrolled by British Transport Police.
If any of our people are assaulted in the course of their duty we will support
and assist them in ensuring their assailants are brought to justice. [Emphasis
added]
This representation of an ever-present threat affects people in their
basic human rights, namely in their right to live and work normally
with no fear of being assaulted at any moment. The reiteration of the
right to work, the wording in the course of their duty, the repetition of
fear through lexical variation (intimation), seem to have the
ideological intent of getting people to accept the institution’s offer of
protection.
The British tendency to trigger this feeling of fear is not so
ubiquitous in the Italian corpus. The only case which implicitly raises
the public’s circumspection is the reminder to take care of one’s own
luggage:
(3) Si prega di custodire il proprio bagaglio.
[Please take care of your luggage.]
3 Launched in 1991 at the University of Birmigham, the Bank of English is a
collection of different types of spoken and written British texts. At the time of
writing it includes 524 million words.
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Unlike the English signs, characterised by a common or general
vocabulary, in the Italian version more technical and specialised
phrases crop up (piano di evacuazione [evacuation map]; mezzi
antincendio [means of fire-prevention]). In giving details about
evacuation, or providing maps of locations or even making reference
to the relevant statutes or regulations, the institution constructs itself
as having centralized power enacting unilateral relationship and thus,
increasing power distance. On the contrary, a process of democratisa-
tion seems to characterise English public communication (an aspect
corroborated by various features, as shown in this sub-section)
realising what Fairclough has termed as ‘synthetic personalization’,
namely the “compensatory tendency to give the impression of treating
each of the people ‘handled’ en masse as an individual” (1989: 62).
Moving from lexis to grammar, personal pronouns and
possessives – e.g. the use of our in example (2) – have been found to
play a crucial role in the construction of writers’ and readers’ textual
identities (Banks 1988; Hyland 2000). Benveniste (1966: 263) has
pointed out that subjectivity is constituted only in and through
language. For him, the first person pronoun is the grammatical
category that contributes to speakers’ expressive capacity. As De Fina
(1995: 384) maintains, it is through pronouns that “the speaker
expresses both his own presence in discourse, the presence of others
and the relationship that he/she entertains with these others”. English
pronouns permit a degree of ambiguity (Biber/Leech/Conrad 1999:
94): if I is unambiguous in referring to the speaker, we can refer
exclusively to the body of experts who possess the knowledge, but can
also be ‘inclusive’, constructing recipients as co-participants. Thus,
referential uses of pronouns serve the role of identification, while
when they are used vaguely the identity of the individuals referred to
by the pronoun can be unclear.
An extensive reading of all the signs reveals a higher use in
English of the deictics we/us intended as the “prototypical exponent of
the speaker-group” (Duszak 2002: 6) and of the colloquial indefinite
pronoun you, which “simulates a conversational and therefore
relatively personal, informal, solidary and equal relationship”
(Fairclough 1995: 145) between the institutions and addressees. The
focus here is mainly on ‘institutional we’, which is used “to invoke an
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institutional identity over a personal identity” (Drew/Heritage 1992:
30-31). In the signs there is no doubt about the referent of the
pronouns which is explicitly mentioned either in the heading (e.g.
Metropolitan Police) or deduced from the signpost location (e.g. the
public warnings at the stations). In some instances, where the pronoun
is used exclusively, the addresser is in a powerful position to ask (and
not: to tell) citizens what to do and, in so doing, a less authoritarian
claim is made if compared to the Italian non-intrusiveness:
(4) We are appealing for witnesses. Can you help us? (SS)
(5) We are trying to maintain a clean comfortable environment for all our
customers who wish to enjoy Victoria Station. (PS)
(6) So we must ask that you give it to our staff or take the litter with you. (PS)
Conversely, when an explicit request for collaboration is made, we is
used inclusively to refer to both the institution and the citizens, and a
closer link is established between the two parties as well as a
commonality of interests and shared aims:
(7) It’s up to all of us. More police are patrolling London’s transport network.
You can help us by reporting anyone or anything suspicious to police or Staff
and by keeping your personal belongings with you at all times. Together we
can make London safer. (SS)
The occurrence of together and of all in example (7) reinforces the
inclusiveness of we and positions the speaker on an equal footing with
ordinary people. The inclusive we is here relationally relevant in that
the addresser, recipients and everybody else “are in the same boat”
(Fairclough 1989: 179). You is extensively used as an indefinite
pronoun referring to all the people and claiming for unity. By using
you instead of another pronoun (e.g. everybody; one) or in place of a
noun (e.g. people) or passivization, the addresser directly interacts
with ordinary people. This slippage between the two forms shows a
certain ambivalence in the addresser who shifts from authoritativeness
to neutrality.
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More impersonal mechanisms feature in the Italian way of
addressing citizens, identified in terms of ‘customers’, as in the
following avviso alla clientela [announcement to customers]:
(8) Avviso alla clientela Per lavori di ammodernamento Il servizio termina alle
ore 21.00. Ci scusiamo per il disagio. (PS)
[Announcement to customers. Due to work of modernisation the service
closes at 21.00. We apologise for any inconvenience.]
Using a word, clientela [customers], with economic implications, the
Italian institution identifies its public as a group of people who can
benefit from a service and takes on a corporate-like identity. The final
sentence “We apologise for any inconvenience” is one of the rare
occurrences of explicit/exclusive we, whereas the word inconvenience
marks this institutional attitude of providing a service. Since what is
not in a text can give ideological insights about what is in the text
(Fairclough 1995: 5), it can be stated that a constant preoccupation
with offering an adequate service may be inferred. From a critical
standpoint, in an English sign details about troubles caused to the
traveller’s journey would have been added, as in example (16). The
absence of this element in the Italian sign implies a major interest in
the service provided rather than in the customer care.
Due to the conative function performed by public warnings (cf.
Fiske 1990: 35), imperatives abound in English and infinitives in
Italian. By the use of imperative/infinitive forms the addresser is in the
position of asking for something, presumably an action, and the
addressee is “a compliant actor” (Fairclough 1989: 126). However,
asking “for action or information, is generally a position of power, as
too is giving information – except where it has been asked for”
(Fairclough 1989: 126). In Italian the equivalent to the imperative
used as performing a directive function is “the neutral (depersonal-
ized) infinitive form, an option not available in English” (Williams
2005: 147) such as lasciare scendere (PS); non appoggiarsi (SS);
attenersi alle disposizioni (PS). Given the prescriptive nature of these
texts, the deontic use of modality prevails over epistemic usage in
both languages:
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(9) For security reasons we are not allowed to have litterbins on the station. So we
must ask that you give it to our staff or take your litter with you. (SS,
emphasis added).
(10) Il viaggiatore è tenuto ad osservare quanto previsto dalle norme generali
esposte in appositi spazi in tutte le stazioni: si richiamano alcune di esse la cui
osservanza è più direttamente connessa alle condizioni di sicurezza e
regolarità del servizio. (SS)
[The traveller is obliged to observe the general rules displayed in the
appropriate places in every station: you are requested to comply in particular
with those rules which are related to safety conditions and service regularity.]
It is interesting to note the mitigation in the English citation due to the
interplay of a number of mechanisms: ‘for safety reasons’ in thematic
position introduces a sort of rationale; the inclusive-we marks the
sharing of interest whilst the use of the conjunction so puts the
obligation as the result of a situation, as if independent of the
speaker’s will. In Italian the use of impersonal structures such as il
viaggiatore è tenuto [the traveller is obliged to], è doveroso [it is right
and proper], è vietato [it is forbidden], are formalised on a higher scale
of modulation (Thompson 2004: 57) and thus open to a deontic
reading. The institution is claiming a compelling appeal to authority,
telling people what they are obliged not to do.
Instances containing modals such as can and may seem to be
ambiguous in the English notices, above all when “permission-granting
provisions of the law are being reported” (Williams 2005: 139), as in:
(11) Buggies can use this area. (PS, emphasis added)
(12) You can help us by reporting anyone or anything suspicious to police or Staff
and by keeping your personal belongings with you. (SS, emphasis added)
(13) To help keep the tube safe you may be approached by British Transport Police
carrying out searches. Your cooperation in this exercise is valued. (SS,
emphasis added)
In particular may can be open to a epistemic interpretation, as in
example (13), where the addresser states what may happen, and thus,
“suggests a greater chance of non-actualization with respect to can”
(Williams 2005: 139). Relying on this uncertainty and on the mitiga-
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tion described above, the English institution manages to dilute the
peremptory character which, instead, seems to characterise the Italian
signs. The English institution seems to construe an identity which
does not compromise the relationship with its interlocutors (positive
politeness) and accordingly, it is socially approved of; in contrast, the
Italian addressees’ face is threatened by imposition which restricts
their freedom and thus their ‘negative face’ (Brown/ Levinson 1987).
As observed by Katan (2006: 67), Low Context Cultures, as
exemplified by the English culture in our case, tend to “cushion
perceived threatening acts by adding extra words which textualise the
need to display negative politeness”.
The more compulsory nature of the Italian signs is corroborated
by the use of non-finite verbal constructions as shown in Figure 12:
lasciare scendere prima di salire [let people get off before getting on],
fare attenzione allo spazio fra treno e banchina [mind the gap
between the train and the platform] which do not occur in the English
notices in our corpus.
Figure 12. Metro Station
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The use of the progressive tense in English compared to its absence in
the Italian warnings under investigation, is relevant to the purpose of
this analysis. All the uses of this tense, which emphasize durativity,
can be considered as ‘atelic’ in that they do not lead to “a well-defined
terminal point” (Comrie 1976: 44). Put in another way, they do not
imply the idea of ‘accomplishment’ (example 14), in that the process
does not refer to a natural point of completion and neither does the
unpleasant feeling of being constantly in danger. Another interesting
device expressing relational value, featuring only in the English signs,
is recourse to grammatical questions, namely wh-questions and yes/no
questions. In example (14) the interactive question is obviously aimed
at raising fear in the addressee, who is alerted and wishes for security.
(14) POLICE WARNING
THIEVES Are operating NOW! Who’s got Your property?
By providing information in the following sign, the institution
attempts to gain confidence from the reader:
(15) We are appealing for witnesses CAN YOU HELP US? ROBBERY
ON MON 1ST MAY 06. AT ABOUT 9.45pm A MALE WAS
ROBBED BY THREE PEOPLE WHILST ON THIS PATHWAY.
THEY RAN OFF TOWARDS WEST END LANE In strictest
confidence, please phone 020 845454 454 545 DID YOU SEE OR
HEAR ANYTHING? PLEASE CALL US On the number above or at
your local police station or ring CRIMESTOPPERS.
Interestingly, reporting the robbery event and giving details about it
give the recipient an immediate feeling of playing a part in this
unpleasant episode and being on the same pathway. The speaker
builds up a positive institutional identity by employing some strategies
such as providing historical evidence. The information supplied is
‘imposed’ upon the reader and this obtrusiveness is mitigated by the
ever-present expression for safety and security reasons. It is worth
noting that the institution avoids any direct reference to obligation by
introducing the phrase in strictest confidence. No instances of
questions were found in the Italian warnings where the reader is given
answers without being consulted.
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A perpetual discourse of danger seems to characterise the
English SS group so as to spread panic and visualise the real con-
sequences of this threat in everyday life:
(16) Unattended luggage constitutes a security hazard which may cause your
journey to be delayed.
As a matter of fact, by selecting information and alerting people
against a permanent menace, or the risk of being attacked in ordinary
life, the speaker invites the reader to assess it positively: the institution
is always there, working for citizens, reminding them of its rights and
the customers’ duties. Once again, the response from the reader can
only be of appreciation and approval. The overriding fear requires
protection and action, thus the nation-state spares no efforts to set up
different strategies.
The English values of justice and democracy represent the
nation as a family, and the texts seem to be informed by a “strict
father morality” view of society (Lakoff 1996: 65-66). The institution
materialises the presence of the enemy by describing it as a bit foreign
(example 17) and identifies itself as the safe guardian.
(17) Notice to all passengers Please do not run on the platforms or concourses.
Especially if you are carrying a rucksack, wearing a big coat. Or look a bit
foreign. This notice is for your own safety. Thank you.
Thus, the positive values and aims encoded in discourse are likely to be
shared by all citizens. The institution appears as an organisation that
strives for defence, protection and justice, and feels very strongly about
those values. The claim for justice “has no ambition to rehabilitate or
redeem the perpetrators, but rather to point to the menace they
represent and the need to get rid of them” (Caviglia 2006: 132).
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5. Conclusion
The multimodal discourse analysis carried out in this chapter has
contributed to showing that construction and management of social
identities are realised through discourse not only through language but
also through image. Organisations construct their social identities on
the basis of various social and cultural relevant parameters which
include nationality, professional status and expertise but also ideology,
and lifestyle (cf. Duszak 2002).
What has emerged is that it is more fruitful to speak in terms of
‘modal density’ (Norris 2004), namely the number of the communication
modes deployed (Horsbøl 2006: 155). Thus, if the Italian identity-
building process is ‘voiced’ through a more implicit complementarity of
verbal and visual modes, sometimes even only via images, the English
identification relies more on explicitness where images reinforce
verbality or vice versa. Although the two societies share the commitment
to achieve important values such as security, preservation of common
goods and social utility, they seem to differ in terms of strategies
employed and feelings triggered. Furthermore, whereas the English
institution focuses mainly on values such as justice and democracy,
spreading a feeling of reliability and confidence, its Italian counterpart
appears more authoritative, letting a corporate-like aspect dominate.
In terms of more general differences in communication, and in
line with the typical Italian/UK clusters of orientation described by
Katan (2004; 2006), English institutions make recourse to a ‘reader
friendly’ strategy. Conversely, characterised as a High Context
Culture, the Italian institution tends to leave the context outside the
text and thus tries to communicate in a more writer-oriented way.
Bearing in mind Fairclough’s three macro-categories, at the
lexical level, the analysis has shown a pervasiveness of the representa-
tion of luggage items, mostly depicted visually, and occurrences of
words like hazard, foreign or rare collocations, such as suspicious
behaviour, which focus attention on the value of individual and
collective security. Occurrences of specialised words in Italian,
together with other devices, such as an impersonal style (non-finite
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verbal constructions, absence of inclusive we, the positioning of the
logo in the upper part of the notice) make Italian public com-
munication seem less democratic.
Grammar strategies (pronouns, uncertain use of modality, atelic
verbs) contribute to construe the English social identity as a visible
‘participant persona’. However, the shift between an institutionalised
we and a cooperative we creates ambiguity, increased by ‘discourse
based on fear’ (Duszak 2002) and the use of positive politeness
strategies. Metatextually speaking, personal communication framed in
the style of a letter is instrumental in the English notices. The sense of
belonging to the British citizenship fulfils the human desire for
solidarity, safety or psychological relief that comes from sharing
things with other people and above all with the institution itself.
Drawing on images to realise the full meaning of the message
(Katan 2006), and keeping in mind Hofstede’s (2001) findings about
‘power distance’, the Italian institution seems to position citizens to
wait for action and advice from it. Thus, not only do Italian citizens
depend on the authority of their institutions, “but they also seem to
feel that this is how things should be” (Hofstede 1991: 127).
Conversely, “a more consultative style of decision making” seems to
dominate in English (see for instance the use of wh-questions)
(Hofstede 1997: 27). Addressing citizens in terms of customers, the
Italian self-effacing identity gives a sense of ‘remoteness’ and enacts
its authority by putting forth a set of rights and duties, prohibitions
and allowances in contrast with the British emphasis on the relational
value of ‘togetherness’ (cf. Magistro 2007).
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