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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2021.45.09.24

How to Cite:

Volume 10 - Issue 45

/ September 2021

http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307

Introduction

Modern world is noted for a variety of forms and

methods of public relations (PR) activities.

Generally defined as a managerial practice or ‘a

audience. PR attempts to create and maintain

positive reputation of a business company or an

individual, thus endowing communication

practice with high relevance for the sustainable

success of the company. At present, at the time

of the Fourth Industrial Revolution the world has

drastically changed. The transformation is

perceived in every aspect of human life and

activities as well as in the development of

scientific thought. Regarding the sphere of public

especially to its axiological aspect, which permits

a holistic interdisciplinary view over the field of

public relations. The relevance of this study is

determined by the increase of PR role in the

present globalizing world. The objective of the

research is to demonstrate the interdisciplinarity

of PR as a nascent discipline with a special

attention to linguistic realization of the pragmatic

goals. The material for the study was taken from

PR press releases issued by large international

results of the study have allowed for the

possibility of showing the interdisciplinary

nature of PR discourse, which is achieved by

linguistic means and stylistic devices, with a

for the possibility of using its results in teaching

PR undergraduates to understand PR press-

releases of the companies and write their own PR

press-releases.

Despite vast literature devoted to the theory and

practice of PR, its discourse has not been studied

from the prism of interdisciplinary approach

which is a characteristic feature of research at the

dawn of the digital age, as it unites scientific

of PR discourse. This enables researchers to

navigate and interpret the modern trends of

professional PR discourse development within

the practical and theoretical insights.

Literature Review

The shaping of Public Relations commenced

almost a century ago, when the book by

E. Bernays entitled “Crystallizing public

organizations was Dr. Rex Harlow, who

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summarized in 1976 various prior attempts to

define the professional field of activity: ‘Public

relations is a distinctive management function,

which helps establish and maintain mutual lines

of communication, understanding, acceptance

and cooperation between an organization and its

publics; involves the management of problems or

issues; helps management to keep informed on

1976: 36). It should also be mentioned that later

on this definition was expanded and specified

with the aim to single out certain characteristics

pertaining to the profession. What is more,

together with different definitions various

Since that time numerous conferences have been

organized with the aim to work out theoretical

and practical principles of PR as a practical

activity and PR as an educational discipline. It

was also introduced into curricula of universities

worldwide. (Berger, 2011; Wolstenholme, 2013,

Sergienko et al., 2021). It is important to note

that, the first national standard of PR education

was adopted in the United States in 1975. Later

on, the International PR Association (IPRA),

discipline. Sam Black in his famous ‘Wheel of

PR Education’ suggested one of the widely

accepted models of PR education which has been

applied (IPRA Goldpapers, 1982; Minyar-

Beloroucheva et al, 2020).

In the light of linguistics, it is necessary to

distinguish the professional sphere of public

relations possessing its own discourse, which can

be defined as the message transmission aimed at

The process of unification of the world that

occurs in society provides the creation of the

worldview, necessary to put into effect the

achievement of arts and sciences as a unified

system. Moreover, relentless challenges facing

the humanity are so acute for global society, that

the issues posed before it, demand a holistic

approach, presupposing perceptions of various

demands transdisciplinarity, which refers to

research that helps eliminating the gap between

scientific knowledge and the knowledge of

society as ‘an integral component of innovation

and problem solving strategies in the life-world’

disciplines of modern times, post-modernism

was veering to integration of arts and sciences

into a unique whole. That is why there has been

a tendency to merge all the previously

disintegrated fields of intellectual knowledge,

heirs to the 17

thought. Integration of sciences breaks

disciplinary boundaries reflecting the universal

tendency to unification of humanity at every

level of its existence including political,

occurs stage by stage, the first stage being

transdisciplinarity (Fairclough, 2000) or

‘postdisciplinary’ (Jessop and Sum, 2001). Thus,

some prominent scholars suggest transcending

disciplinary boundaries in Critical Discourse

Analysis (CDA) (Weiss & Wodak, 2003,

pp. 110-111), which is also regarded as a

characteristic feature of contemporary research

in most social sciences, including the sphere of

PR discourse.

scientists and disciplines, including sociology,

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/ September 2021

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psychology, linguistics, Mass Media,

pragmatics, ecology, law, political science.

Among the main representatives of such an

approach are several theorists and practitioners

(Adolphsen, 2014; Petrov & Wilson, 2016;

Tanji, & Broudy, 2017; Heaney & Rebolini,

2017; Rosenberg, 2021; Stahl, 2018).

understanding the complexity of professional PR

practice. General scientific methods of analysis,

synthesis, comparison and generalization are

used alongside philological, etymological and

textual analyses. For the all-encompassing

researchers resort to the methods of data analysis,

psychology, cultural studies, sociolinguistics and

cognitive linguistics. All in all, researching and

analyzing data is key to the professional field of

PR.

marking, law, communication, culture studies,

ecology, creating videos, writing texts including

posting for the social networks. For PR expert it

is essential to fulfill a double task: 1) to improve

the company’s reputation 2) to win the trust of

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analysis etc. Another vertex of the PR triangle

deals with exact disciplines, necessary for

understanding and accomplishment of the PR

goal to inform the public and influence the

choice. The third vertex symbolizes the theory

and practice of the communicative sphere of

public relation in a holistic vision.

conferences, summits and journalists’

gatherings. It entails writing and editing texts,

commentaries and speeches as well as

gatekeeping. Corporate newspaper has the

function of informing the inner public and

For PR discourse it is highly essential to

emphasize the relevance of universal values

which pertain to all the humanity as well culture

specific values relevant for a particular nation or

region. This aspect often becomes a crucial point

in the course of PR experts’ education (Minyar-

Beloroucheva et al., 2021). It lies in the scope of

educators to instill moral and ethical principles in

the future PR experts who will be responsible for

influencing public opinion and making

The word ‘value’ entered the English language in

1300 meaning ‘price equal to the intrinsic worth

of a thing’. In the late 14

extended to mean ‘degree to which something is

useful or estimable’. The meaning comes from

the Old French of the 13

‘worth, price, moral worth; standing, reputation’.

It was used in the feminine form of past participle

of valoir ‘be worth’, originating from Latin

discourse. The two different meanings denoting

tangible and intangible qualities within one word

are interconnected and interdependent so that this

creates a stable strong feature attributed to both

of them. Estimation is connected with tangible

things which have a certain material cost, while

the intangible feature in linked with valor. It is

defined in the etymological dictionary as ‘value,

worth’, originating from the Old French word

strong’. Later on in the 16

century ‘valor’ got

the meaning of ‘courage’ coming from Italian

‘valore’, which has the same Late Latin word.

The Middle English word also acquired the

meaning of ‘worth or worthiness in respect of

following human values: piety (pietas), fidelity

(fides), seriousness (gravitas), firmness

(constantia), united by the concept of virtus

(virtue, valor), which combined military courage

with the zealous performance of civil duty – the

objectives of the Ancient Romans. The

aforementioned values were traditionally

understood as physical virtues. The etymological

dictionary provides us with the following

definition: virtue – in 1200 ‘vertu’ meant ‘moral

meaning ‘moral strength, high character,

goodness; manliness; valor, bravery, courage (in

war); excellence, worth’. In Proto-Indo-

European the word was ‘vir ‘man’ - the PIE root

*wi-ro- ‘man’. qualities’ (Harper, 2015). A

special meaning was attributed to ‘virtue’ in the

Middle Ages and was connected with

Christianity. The theocentric vision was

manifested in such virtues as faith, hope and

love. Biblical principles became the guidance for

Volume 10 - Issue 45

/ September 2021

http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307

science took the upper hand in the worldview of

the people.

In Modern Times among the moral ground rules

were such general principles of morality as:

humanism – recognition of a person as the

highest value; altruism – selfless service to one's

neighbor; charity – a compassionate and active

the development of contemporary values, which

radically differ from the traditional ones.

Moreover, some worldviews counteract the

established and time-tested principles.

genders, social classes, races, and cultures

bringing the people closer together. Instilling the

general ideas of kindness, love, equality, mercy

and empathy the copyrights aim to cover the

widest audience possible to win their respect and

trust.

In the pandemic time of 2020-2021 when the

Procter and Gamble company, a leading producer

of healthcare products, announced certain charity

copyrights employ the following phrase:

In celebration of World Kindness Day, Ivory,

known for providing a touch of love and

kindness, is focused on spreading positivity with

the launch of the brand’s Acts of Gentle Kindness

initiative. (P&G News Releases, 2020).

In this press release the copyrights emphasize the

support and care for senior citizens by using such

heritage and values’. Such lexical units as

‘kindness’, ‘love’, ‘positivity’, ‘gentle’

emanating ‘tenderness’ address the consumers.

These words and phrases are used to combat

negative emotions connected with the feelings of

loneliness as well as the risk of illness, which can

be detrimental to people’s health and well-being.

The positive emotions to be praised include love,

joy, fun, entertainment, that bridge the generation

prerogative of psychology the knowledge of

which is necessary for successful marketing and

development of society, which is studied by

sociology, that corresponds to the right vertex of

the PR triangle, pictured in Figure 1.

1992). It should be pointed out, that a value can

be considered a universal value if it has the same

meaning for everyone. When universal values are

used effectively in PR discourse, the professional

texts take advantage of special persuasive means.

The axiological approach helps creating a

positive image of the whole company by

informing the public of its credibility and

reliability. Such company as Procter and

Gambler in order to acquaint the customers

victory and trust of the audience. It should be

noted that such notions as leadership, dignity and

trust although correlating with the Ancient

Roman values are still valid at present. These

values become of special relevance for the top

managers and the officials of the company for

whom the battlefields are the press releases

through which they are trying to win the

audience. Thus, relevant become the leadership

and the passion for winning. The P&G website

at every level. As a result, our diverse leadership

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team is shaping our future with an extensive

range of knowledge, experience, and expertise to

improve consumers’ lives today and into the

future (P&G Leadership team, 2021).

Only most prominent and vigorous press

releases, i.e. the winners, are able to persuade and

win the audience by securing trust and respect.

customers, created in the press release, allows the

company to build trust and respect towards its

actions.

Among other values is integrity which is

technological achievements. The progress of

science plays a crucial role in daily pursuits and

work. Man entered space and certain companies