2026, Vol. 17, No. 2. - go to content...

Permanent address of this page - https://sfk-mn.ru/en/35flsk226.html

Метаданные этой статьи так же доступны на русском языке

Full article in PDF format (file size: 534.7 KB)

For citation:

Strizhkova O.V. [Performation of values through dissonance: a linguopragmatic analysis of social advertising posters] World of Science. Series: Sociology, Philology, Cultural Studies, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 2. Available at: https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/35FLSK226.pdf (in Russian).

Performation of values through dissonance: a linguopragmatic analysis of social advertising posters

Strizhkova Olga Valerevna
Orenburg State University named after V.A. Bondarenko, Orenburg, Russia
E-mail: yanusic79@mail.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7119-8929

Abstract. The article investigates the linguopragmatic mechanisms of creating cognitive dissonance in contemporary Russian-language social advertising. Based on the material of two creolized texts — the posters «GET OUT INTO RE@LITY» and «WHICH CARD IS MORE IMPORTANT?» — the author presents an analysis of three types of dissonant relations between the verbal and visual components: axiological (the verbal and visual components express opposing value judgments regarding the same referential situation), referential (a sign in one code (verbal or visual) refers to one referent, while in the other code it refers to a fundamentally different referent, despite an apparent connection), and modal (a discrepancy between the modal attitude embedded in the verbal component and the reality represented in the visual image), which serve as key rhetorical devices of persuasive impact. The theoretical framework of the study comprises the concept of the creolized text and L. Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance. The methodology includes a comprehensive linguopragmatic analysis of illocutionary acts, modal meanings, and semiotic characteristics of verbal-visual posters. The article describes how each type of dissonance is realized through specific semiotic and graphic devices (paragraphemics, wordplay, imperative constructions, visual metaphors). The author demonstrates that dissonance functions not as an accidental stylistic defect, but as a deliberately constructed rhetorical device that ensures persuasive impact by «hacking» perceptual automatism and activating meaning-making processes. The results of the study show that the combined application of different types of dissonance within a single poster creates a synergistic effect, significantly enhancing the persuasive potential of social advertising. The article proves that the performation of value orientations is realized through the mechanism of cognitive element revision: the addressee, confronted with a contradiction between familiar and new cognitions, is compelled to modify their system of evaluations in order to reduce psychological discomfort.

Keywords: social advertising; creolized text; cognitive dissonance; persuasion; verbal-visual poster; axiological dissonance; referential dissonance; modal dissonance; linguopragmatic

Download article in PDF format