"Du kan vara med, ge en gåva idag" : En multimodal diskursanalytisk studie av hur texter från tre välgörenhetsorganisationer uppmanar till agerande

Sammanfattning: The present study conducts a multimodal discourse analysis of texts from the three charities UNICEF, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders and investigates how the reader is encouraged to support these organizations by donating money. The aim is to explore what relationship to the reader that is established, as well as what attitudes that are expressed through textual and visual modes. To do this, three texts from each charity are selected, all regarding the 10-year-long Syrian war, so a comparison can be drawn between the organizations’ different linguistic strategies. The study is based on Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, Halliday’s metafunctions and the appraisal theory presented by Martin & White. Previous studies illustrate how the theoretical frameworks can be applied in analyses of advertisement, narrative texts and fundraising letters by non-for-profit organizations. This study provides further illustration of the significant role of different details in pictures and written text in order to inspire and persuade the reader to help finance the organizations. The results discern a charity discourse, where the texts not only emphasize the importance of helping those in need, but also to support and allow the charities to continue their crucial work worldwide. The texts also seem to aim at arousing empathy and creating a close relationship to the reader in order to encourage donations.