We live in a world of stories. Stories shape the way we think about reality. Stories are what we tell ourselves about ourselves. When the human brain wants to make sense of events and data in the environment, transform them into actionable insights, and share them with others, there is no way around stories. We … Continue reading Narratology – How Stories Work and Why They Matter
Tag: discourse analysis
A Few Fact-Checking Tips
We are living through strange, polarized times and research shows that people are increasingly relying on the Internet and social media to keep themselves informed. The only problem with that: how does one decide which information to trust and which to discard? For starters, a basic rule of thumb is to check the credibility of … Continue reading A Few Fact-Checking Tips
SPOKEN DISCOURSE: How Do We Know What They Mean?
Welcome back and a happy, healthy New Year to all! Knowing what people actually mean is one of the most fascinating quandaries in verbal communication, and one that has preoccupied linguists, psychologists, philosophers, and cultural theorists the world over. Decoding information accurately is essential for proper understanding, so it is no wonder that we now … Continue reading SPOKEN DISCOURSE: How Do We Know What They Mean?
Your social media feed and the snow job technique
Motto: "Indignation is still bondage."Bertrand Russell In negotiation, there is a hardball technique called "the snow job", which consists of flooding the other party with so much information as to overwhelm them and make it nearly impossible to sift through it all. The consequence? The other party will no longer be able to tell which … Continue reading Your social media feed and the snow job technique
How Do We Make Sense of Things? The Language Connection
As award-winning blogger Maria Popova once said, "We can never see the world as it really is". And that's because, on the one hand, we are part of the very system we are trying to describe, and on the other because the things we perceive make little or no sense to us until we plot … Continue reading How Do We Make Sense of Things? The Language Connection
Ways Out of the Lockdown: 4 Types of Discursive Strategies
To say that words are powerful, that they influence thought and perception, and engender representations is a truism. Their force and importance is uncontested. Sometimes it is the case, however, that a new physical context emerges before we even have a concept for it. And for it to become a psychological reality, a perceptible reality that … Continue reading Ways Out of the Lockdown: 4 Types of Discursive Strategies
Traduttore, traditore?*
Communication consulting, translation, research, intercultural project support
Social Distancing? 7 Communication Tips for Maintaining Relationships
So, you are now in your second, third, or possibly even fourth week of social isolation. These times are tough on everyone (but more so on extroverts). On top of that, watching the news is like a bucket of negative emotions being dumped on your head on a daily basis, the future feels uncertain at … Continue reading Social Distancing? 7 Communication Tips for Maintaining Relationships
Language and Thought: How Interconnected Are They?
Motto: "The problem with words is you don't know whose mouths they've been in." (Dennis Potter) Ever since Aristotle, and probably way before that, our world has been both aware of and fascinated by the hypnotic power of words. Our word choices and how we put them together to create context and meaning, social representations … Continue reading Language and Thought: How Interconnected Are They?
How discourse analysis helps me be a better transcreator
As Wikipedia will have it, transcreation (the craft of creative translation) refers to "the process of adapting a message from one language to another, while maintaining its intent, style, tone, and context. A successfully transcreated message evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in the target language as it does in the source language." That's … Continue reading How discourse analysis helps me be a better transcreator