The representation of Sardinia in its tourism websites: a multimodal analysis

DENTI, OLGA

2005-01-01

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the communication strategies of some websites produced by the Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (the Sardinian government site - www.regione.sardegna.it, from now also RS), the Ente Sardo Industrie Turistiche (ESIT – the Sardinian tourist board site www.esit.net, from now also ES), and some others, such as the private site www.hellosardinia.com (from now also HS), and to compare them with the data collected on English tourist guides1. It will start by investigating the concept of communication and in particular of tourist communication according to authors such as Watzlavick, Stevens, Boyer and Viallon, Cogno and Dall’Ara. Then it will focus on a multi-modal analysis of Sardinian tourist websites: what advertising and communication strategies are implemented, what type of language and language strategies are employed, what images are shown to portray a peculiar representation of the island: sea, sun, and sand on the one side, the aspects and patterns of the cultural identity and uniqueness of Sardinia and its people, on the other. Of course, this analysis must be carried out in a cross-cultural dimension, whereas a culture uses specific linguistic features (stereotypes, comparison, clichés, irony, etc.) to present itself to another culture, as in the case of Sardinian websites. At the same time a culture uses specific linguistic features to represent a different culture, as in the English tourist guides on Sardinia. As we all know, the portrayed image of a destination becomes the destination itself in the mind of the tourist. Who is the tourist? Who is the addressee of the tourist website? What is the relationship and the involvement of both the addressee and the addresser? This study will try to answer these and further questions.