A Discourse of Despair: The Semiology of Lonely-Hearts Language

Drawing upon the writings of Adorno, Barthes, and Gadamer, this essay exposes the popular lonely-hearts column as a form of modern discourse. Parallels are established between lonely-hearts ads and other forms of advertising, as well as between the lonely-heart ad and other forms of popular media (e...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological perspectives 1987-07, Vol.30 (3), p.227-244
Main Authors: Crane, Jeffrey L., Ino, Joy Michie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjectives
Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund (1903-1969)
Advertising
Astrology
Automobiles
Desire
Despair
Discourse
Discourse analysis
Gadamer, Hans Georg (1900-2002)
General studies
Hopelessness
Language
Loneliness
Love relationships
Mass media
Opposite Sex Relations
Political discourse
Semiology
Semiotics
Social psychology
Sociology
Speech
Will to power
Writers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Drawing upon the writings of Adorno, Barthes, and Gadamer, this essay exposes the popular lonely-hearts column as a form of modern discourse. Parallels are established between lonely-hearts ads and other forms of advertising, as well as between the lonely-heart ad and other forms of popular media (e.g., the astrology column). The ads themselves are placed within a modern discursive practice whereby technical and instrumental motives and designs are seen to dominate. The discursive practice that supports such ads is analyzed in terms of its instrumental and technical features and its illusory claim to straightforward speech.
ISSN:0731-1214
1533-8673
DOI:10.2307/1389111