Dialogue with Tradition in Historical Advertising Discourse. Polite Forms of Address
Dialogue with Tradition in Historical Advertising Discourse. Polite Forms of Address

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present how in historical advertisement discourse the sender(the advertiser) expressed an attitude towards the recipient in the context of traditionof that time related to the principles of language politeness. In the analysis, the authorfocuses on describing the forms of address used. The research encompasses a periodspanning from the second half of 19th century to 1939, a period directly connectedwith the development of professional advertisements, the advertising industry, the firstadvertising agencies and the media – press, radio and cinematography. The sources usedto write this paper include a wide variety of materials that comprise a large collectionof texts representing various forms of advertisement, including press adverts, leaflets,postcards, posters, placards and notices, packaging materials, labels, folders, companycatalogues and information brochures, price lists, company paper products (forms,envelopes, notes, and bills), and other promotional printed materials (e. g. invitations,letters, and thematic cook books), as well as radio advertisements. The analysis showsboth that polite communication practices in historical advertising texts are charac-terised by a tendency to conform to traditional language politeness norms, includingthose specific to trade, and that the emergence of new communication tools and thedemocratisation of social life during the interwar period led to a need to simplify lan-guage etiquette and trade politeness norms, as well as to develop more familiar ways ofaddressing the audience in advertising discourse.

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