Synthetic personalisation is the process by which writings treat their mass audiences as if they were individuals. It developed from critical discourse analysis (CDA), a branch of sociolinguistics concentrating upon how power is articulated. A synthetic personality is a constructed, friendly, approachable persona, often used in broadcast media. ... “Write” redirects here. ... Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of texts, which views language as a form of social practice (Fairclough 1989: 20) and attempts to unpack the ideological underpinnings of discourse that have become so naturalized over time that we begin to treat them as common, acceptable... Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. ...

Norman Fairclough, credited with developing the concept, calls it "a compensatory tendency to give the impression of treating each of the people 'handled' en masse as an individual. Examples would be air travel (have a nice day), [and] restaurants (welcome to Wimpy!)" (2001: 52). Norman Fairclough (1941 -) is emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Lancaster University. ...

The use of second person pronouns contribute significantly to the process of synthetic personalisation within the mass media. It is extremely common to encounter constructions such as "See you after the break" on television shows prior to commercial breaks. (This example is also common in Paddy Scannell's concept of Broadcast Sociability.) In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase with or without a determiner, such as you and they in English. ... Popular press redirects here; note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint The Popular Press. Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Mary Talbot ([1995]/2003) used the concept in her work on a synthetic sisterhood in teenage girls' magazines, analysing the linguistic devices (pronouns, presuppositions) constructing a simulated friendship between reader and producer. Using a variety of sociolinguistic concepts, including positive politeness, she comments upon the ideological implications, such as patriarchy. Notable people named Mary Talbot include: Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, daughter of Bess of Hardwick Mary Herbert, née Talbot, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of the above Mary Anne Talbot (1778-1808) Category: ... This article is about the magazine as a published medium. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word that usually takes the place of a noun or noun phrase that was previously mentioned (such as she, it) or that refers to something or someone (I, me, you). Pronouns are often one of the basic parts of speech of the... In linguistics, a presupposition is background belief, relating to an utterance, that: must be mutually known or assumed by the speaker and addressee for the utterance to be considered appropriate in context will generally remain a necessary assumption whether the utterance is placed in the form of an assertion, denial... Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. ... True Politeness. ... Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... Look up patriarchy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

References

• Fairclough, N. (2001) Language and Power. 2nd ed. Essex: Longman.
• Talbot, M. (1995) "A synthetic sisterhood: false friends in a teenage magazine" In: K. Hall and M. Bucholtz (eds) Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed Self. New York: Routledge. pp. 143-65.
• Talbot, M., K. Atkinson & D. Atkinson (2003) Language and Power in the Modern World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1538-5

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