Discursive analysis of child advertisement: a bakhtinian perspective

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of a piece of a printed advertisement of Moxie Girlz doll (made by Estrela), published in Recreio Magazine, October/2010. Data analysis was qualitative, carried out in the light of theoretical and methodological tools provided by the linguistic ideas of Bakhtin Circle, presented and discussed in the book Marxism and the Philosophy of Language and in the essay Discourse in Life and Discourse in Art. After analysis of the piece of advertisement in question, we concluded that the advertising of Moxie Girlz doll as well as others with this same style, not only sells the toy (a doll), but also sells fashion, make up and a style of being. The children live in a consumerist society and bombarded by advertising, they have desires to acquire luxuries that in their imagination will transform their life in a better way. In this context, the sensual and erotic style, a model that does not match the emotional and cognitive age of the girls in question, is distorted and is presented as another form of attraction, fascination and seduction.