We get you: combining proximisation and the coordinated management of meaning approach to analyse legitimisation in a text on HIV and AIDS

Abstract

Experts on HIV prevention have emphasised the importance of gleaning and exploiting sociocultural knowledge about the target audience, in order to design educational media that are both sensitive and relevant to addressees. One sociocultural variable that warrants systematic attention is the audience's sexuality. This article investigates a text (designed specifically for South African university students) that aims to enhance its relevance and appeal to the target audience by reflecting acceptance and understanding of their sexuality. To analyse this approach, the article combines the coordinated management of meaning and the spatial–temporal–axiological model of proximisation. This combination affords insight into the strategies employed in the text to persuade readers that the authors understand and respect their views on sexuality, in an attempt to enhance their trustworthiness. As such, the results raise the question as to whether this pattern could be employed in texts designed for similar texts and within broader prevention campaigns.

Keywords::

• axiological
• behaviour change
• Cap
• persuasion
• sexuality
• spatial
• temporal

Acknowledgements

The author would like to extend his thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and recommendations for enhancing this article.

Notes

^1. Following the UNAIDS (2011) guidelines for terminology, this study uses HIV to refer to the virus and AIDS to denote a clinical syndrome.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thinus Conradie

Dr M.S Conradie is a permanent member of staff at the Department of English at the University of the Free State. His research interests include critical race theory, critical studies of whiteness and critical discourse analysis.