In: Logoi -- Heidelberger Graduiertenjournal für Geisteswissenschaften, 2 (2012),

Abstract

In times of globalization and increasing competitive pressure (s. Crijns/Thalheim 2008) communicative transparence is essential to profit-making enterprises. As a result they necessarily employ language as means of multimodal expression and presentation. Thus, the use of specific linguistic devices significantly contributes to the creation of an identity – the enterprise’s corporate identity.This paper will analyze – from a linguistic perspective – how identity is constituted, transferred and sustained in the communication process to both internal and external recipients and is based on a text corpus consisting of selected programmatic texts (mission statements, visions etc.) issued by German profit-making enterprises. By using the method of Linguistic Discourse Analysis (LDA) characteristic linguistic patterns of the respective texts will be analyzed on different linguistic levels. This multi-layered analysis allows for a more detailed description of the concept of identity and its various textual representations.Currently, linguistic surveys are only represented rudimentarily in the field of business communication (s. Hundt et al. 2011). This study consequently aims to underline the meaning and function of language for the general act of self-construction and, of course, the construction of corporate identity. Furthermore, it intensifies the professional dialogue between theoretical research and practical economy by acknowledging that the corporate identity model is a serious device of communication – not just a marketing tool (s. Bungarten 1993, 113f.).