The birth of the print ad genre

Abstract

This chapter explores the emergence of the product print advertisement from the genre’s first occurrences in the periodic press up to its early standardization (1652–1789). Thereby, the present study outlines the dynamic processes by which this new genre developed. Based on the systemic functional analysis (Halliday 1985; Halliday & Matthiessen 2014) of 300 selected English and American newspaper adverts, this chapter describes the most distinct textual, interpersonal and experiential features of the early product ad. The resulting genre review indicates that the emergent print ad genre borrowed many of its linguistic traits from pre-existing (antecedent) genres such as the trade card, the h..