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Persuasion in Self-improvement Books

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Jeremy Koay

    1. EduMaxi, Auckland, New Zealand

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  • Applies a genre theory and discourse analytical perspective to self-improvement and self-help books as a distinct genre
  • Examines a previously under-analysed genre of popular literature, looking in detail at self-help books as a distinct form of writing
  • Sheds light on the discursive practices used to persuade readers within self-help books
  • Explores the practice of advice-giving and the assumption of authority in self-improvement contexts

Part of the book series: Postdisciplinary Studies in Discourse (PSDS)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 1-14

  3. What Are Self-improvement Books?

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 15-24

  4. What Values Underpin Self-improvement Books?

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 25-40

  5. Persuasion in Context

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 41-54

  6. How Do Writers Use Language to Gain Readers’ Trust?

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 55-63

  7. How Do Writers Engage Their Readers?

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 65-78

  8. Conclusion

    • Jeremy Koay
    Pages 79-83

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 85-86
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Keywords

About this book

This book investigates how persuasion relates to values in self-improvement literature, revealing the discursive practices used to persuade and engage their readers, and construct a credible persona. The author adopts a corpus-driven approach that encompasses an examination of genre analysis and linguistic features such as narrative, pronoun, grammar and structure. The book further draws on insights from original interviews with writers and readers of self-improvement books, as well as people who do not read the genre. It begins by providing a helpful overview of the concepts of ideology and genre. A brief history of self-improvement books and their values and assumptions provide the context for the analysis. Where relevant, linguistic features in self-improvement books are compared with other genres (e.g. academic text, conversation, news). This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of linguistics, culture and media studies.





Authors and Affiliations

  • EduMaxi, Auckland, New Zealand

    Jeremy Koay

About the author

Jeremy Koay is a New Zealand-based independent researcher and an education consultant at EduMaxi. His research interests include discourse analysis, English for specific purposes, genre studies, functional linguistics and applied linguistics.



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Persuasion in Self-improvement Books

  • Authors: Jeremy Koay

  • Series Title: Postdisciplinary Studies in Discourse

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12149-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-12148-8Published: 06 March 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-12149-5Published: 25 February 2019

  • Series ISSN: 2946-5990

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-6008

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 86

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Discourse Analysis, Popular Culture , Genre, Secularism

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