The paper examines Indonesian condolence press death notices and condolence flower boards as two interrelated genres of funeral communication. It aims to demonstrate the structural and linguistic correspondences between these forms and to identify the possible influence of the death notice genre pattern on the messages displayed on flower boards. The study is qualitative and draws on Maria Wojtak’s concept of the genre pattern, understood as a set of rules linking the major levels of a genre’s organization and the relationships between them. Particular attention is paid to structural organization, including the textual frame (typical openings and closings), recurrent segments, and their interrelations. A comparative approach enables the identification of similarities and differences in both structure and linguistic realization. The analysis focuses on recurrent textual components present in both genres, such as condolence formulas (e.g., turut berduka cita), expressions referring to death (atas meninggalnya, atas wafatnya, telah berpulang ke rahmatullah), terms denoting familial and social relations, and patterns used to identify the deceased (anthroponyms, academic and professional titles, functions and positions held). It also considers the identification of the sender and additional segments in the form of short prayers. The study notes the more frequent emphasis on professional roles and achievements on flower boards. Non-linguistic elements, especially the inclusion of photographs, further align flower boards with the death notice format. The paper argues that condolence flower boards may be viewed as secondarily modeled on death notices, while retaining their distinct social and spatial functions.

Authors:
Przemyslaw Wiatrowski, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland

About the Presenter(s)
Prof. UAM dr hab. Przemyslaw Wiatrowski is currently a University Professor of Linguistics at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Przemyslaw-Wiatrowski/research

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