Space, Time and the Construction of Identity: Discursive Indexicality in Cultural, Institutional and Professional Fields(166 Linguistic Insights)

Given the consolidated position of English as the international language for communication in business and management, as well as in institutional contexts, this book depicts a wide panorama of encounters where identity, image and reputation are a key focus in creating effective interactions. The main theme of the work is how temporal and spatial meaning representations in language reflect and, in turn, construct these personal, professional and corporate identities. From each chapter different sociolinguistic realities emerge which affect English, as it is used by both native and non-native speakers, especially in the relationship between local or national cultures and the global professional discourse community.
In this context not only have domain-specific language features been analysed, but also the communication strategies and interactive patterns at work in how different geo-political cultures construe, manifest and adjust their identities over the course of time and in varying physical, virtual, and cognitive spaces.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Marina Bondi: Introduction – Rita Salvi: Space and Time in the Construction of Identity in Institutional Discourse – Giuliana Diani: The Construction of Academic Identity in English and Italian University Lectures – Giuditta Caliendo: Ago, ergo Sum: New Ideological Perspectives in the Discursive Construal of Institutional Identity – Chiara Prosperi Porta: ‘Unity in Diversity’: The Shaping of Identities in the Annual Reports of the ECB and EU Member States’ Central Banks – Laura Ferrarotti: Promoting Identity in Italian University Websites – Giuseppe Balirano/Maria Cristina Nisco: Identity and the Linguistic Construction of Space and Place in Diasporic Films: the DesiCorpus – Janet Bowker: Multimodal, Virtual Professional Space: «Unboundedness» and «Grounding» in Corporate Webcasting Events – Christina Samson: Lexical/Phraseological Representations of Identity: Corporate Performance and Risk Reviews – Ersilia Incelli: Managing Reputation through the Discursive Reconstruction of Corporate Identity: A Phraseological Approach – Donatella Malavasi: ‘Made in Italy’: Local and Global Distinctive Traits – Gillian Mansfield/Franca Poppi: Selling Who We Are and/or What Our Product Is: Self-presentational Strategies in Italian Company Websites and Product Promotion – Judith Turnbull: Building, Enhancing and Defending Reputation in a Corporate Website.

About the Author :
Rita Salvi is full professor in English Linguistics and Translation in the Faculty of Economics, «Sapienza» University of Rome. Her research interests include general and applied linguistics, text and genre analysis, intercultural discourse for academic and professional purposes, analysis of specialized languages (economics and law). She serves as reviewer for journals, book publishers and research funding entities.
Janet Bowker is a tenured researcher and adjunct professor in English Linguistics and Translation in the Faculty of Economics, «Sapienza» University of Rome. Her research interests lie mainly in academic and professional discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, and socio-cognitive pragmatics. Her self-compiled specialised corpora of business discourse have been used to investigate a variety of topics including the processes of description, evaluation and persuasion in internal and intercultural corporate discourse, and multimodality, genre and register in virtual professional space.