The rhetorical structure of academic book reviews of literature: An English-Spanish cross-linguistic approach
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Lorena Suárez
Abstract
Since the 1990s, there has been an increasing interest in the study of genres (Swales 1990). Recent research on the academic journal book review (BR) has shown that the BR in English is shaped according to a rhetorical structure that gives it genre status (Motta-Roth 1998). However, it is not known whether this rhetorical structure is shared by comparable texts in other languages. This chapter carried out an English-Spanish cross-linguistic study of the rhetorical structure of BRs on the basis of two comparable corpora of 20 BRs of literature in each language. The main results show that, despite sharing similar overall patterns of organization, the Spanish BRs of literature develop more descriptive moves and are less likely to end with criticism-loaded strategies.
Abstract
Since the 1990s, there has been an increasing interest in the study of genres (Swales 1990). Recent research on the academic journal book review (BR) has shown that the BR in English is shaped according to a rhetorical structure that gives it genre status (Motta-Roth 1998). However, it is not known whether this rhetorical structure is shared by comparable texts in other languages. This chapter carried out an English-Spanish cross-linguistic study of the rhetorical structure of BRs on the basis of two comparable corpora of 20 BRs of literature in each language. The main results show that, despite sharing similar overall patterns of organization, the Spanish BRs of literature develop more descriptive moves and are less likely to end with criticism-loaded strategies.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
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Section I. Current state of contrastive rhetoric
- From contrastive rhetoric to intercultural rhetoric: A search for collective identity 11
- The importance of comparable corpora in cross-cultural studies 25
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Section II. Contrastive corpus studies in specific genres
- Metadiscourse across three varieties of English: American, British, and advanced learner English 45
- A genre-based study of research grant proposals in China 63
- Different cultures – different discourses? Rhetorical patterns of business letters by English and Russian speakers 87
- Spanish language newspaper editorials from Mexico, Spain, and the U.S. 123
- The rhetorical structure of academic book reviews of literature: An English-Spanish cross-linguistic approach 147
- Newspaper commentaries on terrorism in China and Australia: A contrastive genre study 169
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Section III. Contrastive rhetoric and the teaching of ESL/EFL writing
- "Long sentences and floating commas": Mexican students' rhetorical practices and the sociocultural context 195
- English web page use in an EFL setting: A contrastive rhetoric view of the development of information literacy 219
- From Confucianism to Marxism: A century of theme treatment in Chinese writing instruction 241
- Plagiarism in an intercultural rhetoric context: What we can learn about one from the other 257
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Section IV. Future directions
- A conversation on contrastive rhetoric: Dwight Atkinson and Paul Kei Matsuda talk about issues, conceptualizations, and the future of contrastive rhetoric 277
- Mapping multidimensional aspects of research: Reaching to intercultural rhetoric 299
- Notes on contributors 317
- Index 321
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section I. Current state of contrastive rhetoric
- From contrastive rhetoric to intercultural rhetoric: A search for collective identity 11
- The importance of comparable corpora in cross-cultural studies 25
-
Section II. Contrastive corpus studies in specific genres
- Metadiscourse across three varieties of English: American, British, and advanced learner English 45
- A genre-based study of research grant proposals in China 63
- Different cultures – different discourses? Rhetorical patterns of business letters by English and Russian speakers 87
- Spanish language newspaper editorials from Mexico, Spain, and the U.S. 123
- The rhetorical structure of academic book reviews of literature: An English-Spanish cross-linguistic approach 147
- Newspaper commentaries on terrorism in China and Australia: A contrastive genre study 169
-
Section III. Contrastive rhetoric and the teaching of ESL/EFL writing
- "Long sentences and floating commas": Mexican students' rhetorical practices and the sociocultural context 195
- English web page use in an EFL setting: A contrastive rhetoric view of the development of information literacy 219
- From Confucianism to Marxism: A century of theme treatment in Chinese writing instruction 241
- Plagiarism in an intercultural rhetoric context: What we can learn about one from the other 257
-
Section IV. Future directions
- A conversation on contrastive rhetoric: Dwight Atkinson and Paul Kei Matsuda talk about issues, conceptualizations, and the future of contrastive rhetoric 277
- Mapping multidimensional aspects of research: Reaching to intercultural rhetoric 299
- Notes on contributors 317
- Index 321
