Paola Catenaccio - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Paola Catenaccio

Over the last few decades, scientific research and technology have advanced at incredible speed, ... more Over the last few decades, scientific research and technology have advanced at incredible speed, creating the conditions for previously unimaginable progress in all areas of life, but at the same time raising ethical concerns often exacerbated by the rapidly spreading commercial exploitation of emerging technologies. One domain where both progress and ethical questioning have been especially strong is that of genetic engineering, which so far has reached widespread application primarily in the field of agri-biotechnologies. While having become progressively established throughout the world, agri-biotechnologies are far from being equally accepted everywhere. Objections to them range from misgivings about their moral acceptability, to fears about their possible consequences for human health, to the perceived risk of environmental damage, to the negative socio-political implications of giving a handful of seed producers what basically amounts to a monopoly on global food production. I...

This book deals with discursive aspects of specialised communication, looking in particular at th... more This book deals with discursive aspects of specialised communication, looking in particular at the role and scope of language and discourse in professional practice across a variety of fields and modes. Its chapters are diverse in their outlooks, analytical procedures, and object of enquiry, and span across different specialised domains, settings, genres, and media (from face-to-face communication to television, from traditional websites to social networking sites). In broad terms, they are all set in a discourse-analytical framework and share the ultimate purpose of providing new insights into the evolution of discourse practices used by professionals in a variety of specialised genres at a time characterised by rapid scientific and dramatic technological advances accompanied by important societal, sociotechnical and cultural transformations. Professional and workplace routines and procedures are embedded in a dense network of discursive practices, which both determine and reflect ...

At the end of 2003, the Italian dairy giant Parmalat became embroiled in a financial scandal whic... more At the end of 2003, the Italian dairy giant Parmalat became embroiled in a financial scandal which, in a matter of weeks, led to temporary receivership and the initiation of bankruptcy procedures. Pressured by the international media (eager, in the wake of the scandals that had hit the American market a few years earlier, to point the finger at the perpetrators of financial crimes), as well as by investors and other stakeholders, Parmalat issued a series of press releases which document the unfolding of the crisis and illustrate the approach to crisis communication chosen by the company. This paper analyses the press releases in English (aimed, therefore, at the international public) issued by Parmalat between November 2003 and August 2004. The press releases are analysed both qualitatively, in a discourse-analytical perspective, and quantitatively, with the help of computerised routines (Wordsmiths Tools 4.0), with a view to identifying the main features of Parmalat's crisis communication strategy. The findings suggest that Parmalat did not have a clear communication strategy, and that textual (genre-related), lexical and syntactic choices conveyed implicitly the image of a company unwilling to engage dialogically with its stakeholders and unable to control the course of the events. RÉSUMÉ À la fin de 2003, le géant agroalimentaire italien Parmalt, se trouve entraîné dans un scandale financier qui, en quelques semaines, conduit à sa mise sous administration judiciaire et l'engagement des procédures de faillite. Assailli par la presse internationale (impatient, dans le sillage des scandales qui ont frappé le marche américain quelques années auparavant, de débusquer les instigateurs des délits financiers), ainsi que par les investisseurs et d'autres parties prenantes, Parmalat publie une série de communiqués de presse qui documente le déroulement de la crise et illustre l'approche adoptée par la société en matière de communication en situation de crise. Cet article analyse les communiqués de presse en anglais (destiné donc, à un public international) publiés par Parmlat entre novembre 2003 et août 2004. Ils font l'objet d'une analyse à la fois qualitative relevant de l'analyse du discours, et quantitative, à l'aide du concordancier Wordsmiths Tools 4.0, dans le but d'identifier les principales caractéristiques de la stratégie de communication de crise adoptée par Parmalat. L'analyse indique que l'entreprise n'a pas adopté une stratégie de communication claire et les choix textuels (en rapport avec le genre), lexicaux et syntaxiques véhiculent, de manière implicite, l'image d'une entreprise incapable de maîtriser le cours des événements et peu disposée à engager le dialogue avec les parties prenantes.

Debating evolutions in science, technology and society: Ethical and ideological perspectives. An ... more Debating evolutions in science, technology and society: Ethical and ideological perspectives. An introduction 15 RITA SALVI, The process of knowledge dissemination 31 CECILIA LAZZERETTI, FRANCA POPPI, "Nanotechnologies: where should they take us?" The popularization of nanosciences on the web: A discourse analytical approach 51 JEKATERINA NIKITINA, Representation of gene-editing in British and Italian newspapers. A cross-linguistic corpusassisted discourse study 77 EMANUELE BRAMBILLA, Toxicity exposed in the Greenpeace Toxic Tech campaign 99 ERSILIA INCELLI, The discourse of eco-cities as an ethical commitment: A comparative study in English specialized domains 119 CHIARA DEGANO, ANNALISA SANDRELLI, A corpusbased study of ethically sensitive issues in EU directives, national transposition measures and the press 137 DENISE MILIZIA, CINZIA SPINZI, When a relationship ends "there can be no turning back". The divorce metaphor in the Brexit discourse 167 RUTH BREEZE, Don't let the facts spoil the story: Foregrounding in news genres versus scientific rigour 191 DERMOT HEANEY, Geo-bioethics: Reporting on Russia's ban from Olympic competition in the International and Russian English language press Lingue e Linguaggi

... SLA Acquisition Research and the Challenge of Theory: 308. Autores: Paola Catenaccio; Localiz... more ... SLA Acquisition Research and the Challenge of Theory: 308. Autores: Paola Catenaccio; Localización: Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata, ISSN 0033-9725, Vol. 33, Nº 2-3, 2001 , págs. 161-196. Fundación Dialnet. Acceso de usuarios registrados. ...

Paola Catenaccio Constructing Identities in the Fashion Industry: Building Brand and Customer Ima... more Paola Catenaccio Constructing Identities in the Fashion Industry: Building Brand and Customer Image through Press Releases 1. Introduction In the last few years fashion has increasingly come to be recognised as an aspect of culture and as a creative tool for the expression of one's ...

Identities across Media and Modes: Discursive Perspectives

Genre Change in the Contemporary World

Journal of Pragmatics, 2011

This position paper sketches the contours of a linguistics of news production. It is argued that,... more This position paper sketches the contours of a linguistics of news production. It is argued that, until recently, linguistic interest in the news prioritized close analysis of news products at the expense of the production process. The current paper is aimed at consolidating a number of emerging research efforts which focus on the interplay of language use and journalism, media and society. First, we spell out what can be considered news and how this conceptualization supports a case for the analysis of the news production process. Next, we look to various fields in linguistics and discourse studies to detail some of the relevant methodological frameworks that can be incorporated in a linguistics of news production. Finally, we situate our production focus within the larger media research context and suggest how it can bring added value to ongoing efforts in four related fields outside of linguistics.

… , Identities and Roles in …, 2010

This chapter focuses on a peculiar kind of professional interactions, those involving pilots and ... more This chapter focuses on a peculiar kind of professional interactions, those involving pilots and air traffic controllers (ATCs), where participants' individual identities are undefined and unstable, as actors participate in them only through their voices, with hardly any other ...

LCM - La Collana / The Series

This chapter examines the multilingual text of the Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilitie... more This chapter examines the multilingual text of the Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities (CRR), published on the website of the City of Montréal in several languages-French, English, Arabic, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese. It focuses on the Italian version of the Charter, comparing it with other language versions, and in particular the English and French ones, and discusses the main problems involved in the process of re-writing/translating this textmany of an institutional and cultural nature. It also provides representative examples of the procedures adopted to produce a viable version, while at the same time effectively conveying exactly the same principles and notions. The rewriting process enacted to produce the various language versions is also examined in terms of its relevance to the building of a shared discourse of citizenship in the municipality of Montréal, especially considering that the text has played a key role in introducing the concept of 'citizen responsibility', symmetrical to that of 'citizen rights', and providing a framework for both their definition and application. The results of the analysis testify to the crucial importance taken on in this context by rewriting , which becomes a powerful instrument to promote inclusiveness, civic responsibility and accountability on the part of the institutions. Parole chiave: Carta montrealese dei diritti e delle responsabilità, diritti dei cittadini, responsabilità dei cittadini, ri-scrittura, traduzione.

Altre Modernità, 2018

The study investigates dialogic strategies in selected corporate communication of the biotech gia... more The study investigates dialogic strategies in selected corporate communication of the biotech giants Monsanto and Bayer. Both companies have had to repeatedly face criticism on the part of activists and biotech-averse consumers. In order to win consumer trust and gain social legitimation, the companies have put considerable effort into building forms of stakeholder dialogue, resorting, to this end, to computer mediated communication as the preferred means of interaction. Monsanto’s and Bayer’s commitment to engage dialogically with their audiences provides a set of ideal materials for testing if and to what extent new technological affordances are used by companies in the service of stakeholder dialogue on potentially controversial themes. The study analyzes the communicative coordinates and rhetorical organization of communication in two distinct sets of documents – Monsanto’s dedicated “Conversation” website section, and Bayer’s “Transparency Initiative” introductory video. The me...

This chapter is the result of the joint work of an interdisciplinary research group including soc... more This chapter is the result of the joint work of an interdisciplinary research group including sociologists and linguists, investigating the discursive aspects of accident analysis.

The integration of technology in translation education has long been a key tenet in translation p... more The integration of technology in translation education has long been a key tenet in translation pedagogy, particularly in specialised translation courses. While some translation technology is highly sophisticated and requires extensive training, other tools - such as Web-based resources and repertoires - are far less specialised, and can be drawn upon also in university-level language courses in which translation plays a role as a component of language teaching. This article reports on an experiment conducted on a cohort of English-major students enrolled in a three-year foreign language and culture programme at the University of Milan to test the effectiveness of technology-enhanced translation teaching on students' translation performance. The results suggest that even though technology-enhanced teaching is effective as a way to develop students' sensitivity and awareness of translation-related problems, recourse to technology when carrying out actual translation tasks doe...