Investigating Evaluative Strategies in Blurbs of Fiction: Exploring the informative and Promotional Aspects

This study explored elements involved in the construction of online English fiction blurbs through a quantitative analysis of their promotional and informative moves and also a qualitative study of the attitudinal markers within these two moves. Data were collected from 2014 goodreads awards nominees from multiple categories: fantasy, historical fiction, etc. Valor’s framework (2005) provided a foundation for the study to investigate the promotional and informative moves/functions of blurbs. Moreover, the use of the appraisal model (Martin White, 2005) allowed the discovery of the application and organization of attitudinal markers in each of these moves, which is particularly aimed for achieving the writers’ intentions. We found that blurbs can be categorized into three types: those with a single move either promotional or informative, those with incorporation of the two moves, and those with a cyclic move order. Regarding the qualitative analysis, the study demonstrates that the use of positivity and also appreciation is more conspicuous in the promotional move and it is in the informative move that one can witness the use of more negativity and judgmental expressions. Also, much more can be gained from more in-depth studies in the area of appraisal and/or the comparative study of blurbs.