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Article published In: Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 16:4 (2025) ► pp.471–493

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A multimodal analysis of a Japanese TV commercial

A case study of ethnopoetic texts and beyond

ORCiD logo with link | Aichi University
Published online: 23 June 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.22038.kat
Abstract
By examining a popular Japanese TV commercial as an archetypal example of discursive practice, this paper shows that quotidian discourse is poetically organized and achieved through multimodally accumulated preferences in order to maximize appeal for anticipated recipients. Building on this assumption, a linguistic anthropological approach, called ‘ethnopoetics’, is adopted and modified to elucidate the cultural norms and assumptions embedded in layered ‘texts’. Specifically, focus is given to verbal, visual, aural, and somatic elements in the commercial, and an attempt is made to elucidate the multi-layered coordination of these semiotic resources, which eventually evokes an underlying social configuration, called ‘interactional text’.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Review of ethnopoetic approaches
  • 3.Data and method of analysis
  • 4.Analysis: Donbiki Dansu “huge-discount dance”
    • 4.1Utterance/chant
    • 4.2Performance (dance and gesture/posture)
    • 4.3Participation framework and frame-shifting
    • 4.4Perspectival granularity
    • 4.5Narration and sound effects
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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