A pragmatic study of media texts: A corpus of new age talks by Osho (on the basis of Burke's pragmatic approach to concordancing)

ABSTRACT: Examination of the role of persuasive use of language in (re)construction of social realities, specifically, the relation of linguistic choices in media texts to their potential pragmatic effects on the audience has always been among the main concerns of critical language studies. The present research, therefore, explores language and persuasion in a corpus of New Age talks by Osho, the founder of one of the most popular and radical New Age movements. It has been motivated by the apparent persuasive, and thus social impact of Osho‘s books (compilations of his talks), being the major source of disseminating his ideology to millions of international readers over the past decades. This research exploits a novel methodology integrating corpus methodology (search and processing techniques of frequency words, collocational patterns, and concordances) with Kenneth Burke‘s critical methodology based on pragmatic approach to concordancing. It aims at revealing the pragmatic function of Osho‘s rhetoric in a corpus of 133 talks (450.000 words) that appeared in two gender-related books in the early 2000s. The integrated analysis of the pertinent corpus evidence, and its subsequent interpretation in light of the contexual evidence from the literature and studies into New Age and Osho‘s movement reveal the following. Osho‘s persuasive rhetoric derives from the strategy of disassociation inducing the audience to alienate themselves from social institutions, the strategy of association influencing them to identify with Osho, an embodiment of a new, perfect being, as well as from the holistic views of the New Age ideology. The main function of Osho‘s persuasive rhetoric in the corpus under examination, therefore, seems to be challenging the society‘s institutions that perpetuate the dichotomous worldview, and persuading the audience to adopt Osho‘s alternative worldview, emphasizing the compatibility of spiritualism and materialism, spirituality and sexuality, as well as reconciliation of two genders, woman and man. The present research, on the basis of its findings, and limitations offers some suggestions and implications for further research on Burkean, Osho-related and New Age studies. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………