The making of corporate identities through a plural corporate language. A comparative study on French and Italian Food companies

Authors

  • Maria Margherita Mattioda Università degli Studi di Torino
  • Marie-Berthe Vittoz Università degli Studi di Torino

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8987/575

Keywords:

corporate language, food companies, corporate identity, multilingual communication, French, Italian

Abstract

The present study analyzes the linguistic and cultural dimensions which emerge from international companies working in those economic and social contexts, which are, at present, more cash-like and uncertain. The multilingual communication adopted by such companies is the result of their position on the market and of their own identity and culture. It also reveals an ongoing process of negotiation between several elements: a language identity source, which highlights the origins, history, geographic, social and cultural affiliation (national, regional, and professional), a target otherness, which may be more or less defined (by country or in relation to a universal extent) and which is increasingly multicultural, and a ‘source otherness’, which arises from considering “soi-même comme un autre” to communicate extensively. The present study will shed light on some communicative choices at both language and culture levels in the corporate sites of some Italian and French food companies (Lavazza, Ferrero, Barilla, Lactalis, Fleury-Michon, Bonduelle, Bomgrain). The aim is to identify specific (“connotative”) items that in some way denote cultural permeability, a layer between convention and “hybridization”.

Author Biographies

Maria Margherita Mattioda, Università degli Studi di Torino

Assistant professor in French Language and Translation at the University of Turin and chief editor of the international journal “Synergies Italie”. Her research interests mainly concern lexicography and lexicology applied to LSPs, professional communication (“lexiculture” and rhetorical-pragmatic strategies), specialised translation. She is currently working on discourse analysis of organizations and multilingual communication and localization. Her most recent publications include: Euphémismes et atténuation du dire dans la presse économique spécialisée, 2009; La dimensione silente della stampa economica e finanziaria, 2010; Strategie di comunicazione pubblicitaria e traduzione, 2010.

Marie-Berthe Vittoz, Università degli Studi di Torino

Full professor in French Linguistics at the Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature straniere e culture moderne, University of Turin. She is also Director of the CLA (University Language Centre) and member of the Editorial Board of the international journals (ELA, Synergies Italie, Synergies Monde). Her main research fields focus on language teaching, lexicography and lexicology, intercultural communication for professional purposes (management), the bi-national university courses, CLIL methodology. Her recent publications include books and articles on idioms and phraseology (Les locutions en discours, 2005; Les sequences savants françaises et britanniques: une interculture partagée, 2012), on CLIL programs (Integrating the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) with CLIL, 2008) and higher educational programs.

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Published

2014-06-30

How to Cite

Mattioda, M. M., & Vittoz, M.-B. (2014). The making of corporate identities through a plural corporate language. A comparative study on French and Italian Food companies. RiCOGNIZIONI. Rivista Di Lingue E Letterature Straniere E Culture Moderne, 1(1), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8987/575

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2014)

Section

ItINERARI

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