CULTURAL ALLUSIONS AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSION OF COMMUNICATIVE INTENTIONS IN BUSINESS DISCOURSE

The article addresses communicative intentions realised in business  discourse  through  cultural  allusions. The author considers some examples of English texts making use of cultural allusions and provides explanations of their meaning.

The study centers around business discourse viewed as an integral part of intercultural communication and focuses on the concept of “dialogue of cultures” that implies much more than a mere verbal effect to be produced.

The paper  highlights  the scope of cultural  allusions  as a concept referring to textual references of historical, cultural or universal  importance,  and  substantiates  the  hypothesis  that cultural allusions might be viewed as a powerful tool helping reveal  the  intentions  of  the  participants  of  a  communicative situation. Analysing the examples proposed, the author further relies on congruent argumentative reasoning to come up with a list of intentions realised in business discourse most efficiently through the use of cultural allusions.

The study ultimately concludes that cultural allusions can be used in business discourse as a prominent and practical stylistic technique making the speech of those involved more vivid and engaging. This inference, in its turn, prompted the author to conclude that the established efficiency of cultural allusions as a linguistic means applied in the framework of business discourse indicates the ever more apparent exposure of  the  latter to emotional means of expression.