A HYBRID APPROACH TO GENRE DEFINITION AND THE CONTENT OF THE BACKGROUNDER (based on the websites of kuzbass organizations)

Abstract

The article substantiates the idea that an effective communication between a subject and its “consumers” is formed with the help of a PR text. The authors consider one of the genres of the PR text - the backgrounder, which is a tool for strengthening the image of an organization and as a genre has precise theoretically fixed rules for creation and distribution, at the same time, it is practically not the subject of scientific research of the last decade. The article presents the conclusions on the analysis of 97 backgrounders of organizations in the Kemerovo region-Kuzbass (V. D. Kuzbass State Scientific Library Fedorova, Kemerovo State University, Azot Group of Companies, SDS-Ugol, Kalina-Malina, Rostelecom, Rosselkhoznadzor, Kuzbass Government Administration, Ministry of Culture and National Policy of Kuzbass, North Kuzbass Energy Company). In the course of the study, it was decided to conduct an additional analysis of the methods of data verbalization in the backgrounders of the Kuzbass press services. It is proved that the backgrounder in the Kuzbass PR space is a genre, the practical implementation of which and the functional specifics differ from the definition of the term “backgrounder”, presented in scientific discourse. To identify the main linguistic ways of implementing the communicative background in the backgrounds, the authors of the article used a text analysis algorithm, the first stage of which was the selection of the content of texts marked as background information. In the texts involved in the analysis, the historical background and the “nomination-decoding” sequence are a frequent way of implementing the communicative background in the backgrounders. The authors conclude that the lack of scientific reflection and the rapid change in PR reality leads to a discrepancy between the theory of the backgrounder and its actual functioning, that is, a narrow understanding of the term is not congruent with its practical implementation, which suggests the prospect of exploring the framework and content of the genre under study in a broad, hybrid understanding.