SinoNet: WG: Vortrag Professor Rodney Jones - 23 November: Personal Genomics in China
Gregor Kneussel
gregor.kneussel at gmx.net
So Nov 22 17:14:44 CET 2015
Vortrag: Personal genomics in China.
Herzliche Grüße
Gregor
-------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht --------
Betreff: Reminder: Professor Rodney Jones - 23 November
Datum: Sun, 22 Nov 2015 13:42:39 +0000
Von: Institutsliste für Slawische Sprachen der WU
Dear all,
We would like to invite you to our forthcoming “English Research
Seminar” with our next guest speaker, *Professor Rodney Jones*,
Professor of Sociolinguistics and Head of Department at the University
of Reading. Professor Jones’ main interests are discourse analysis,
interactional sociolinguistics, and language and digital media.
https://www.reading.ac.uk/english-language-and-applied-linguistics/Aboutus/Staff/r-h-jones.aspx
Date, time and venue:
*Monday, 23th November, 18: 15, D2.2.228 (Besprechungsraum).*
[Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, 2., Welthandelsplatz 1 (WU-Campus)]
*Title and abstract:*
Marketing the Genome across Cultures: Copycat Companies and Discursive
Clones
Advances in biotechnology have made genomic testing for disease risk and
other traits available to the general public. The commercial marketing
of personal genomic tests began with US and European companies like
23andMe and DeCodeMe, but recently personal genomics companies are
sprouting up in Asia, adapting the business models of US and Western
European companies to different sociopolitical conditions. Studying the
discourse of personal genomics as it takes root in different countries
offers an interesting lens on how issues related to genetics (such as
identity, race, and disease risk) are constructed in different cultural
contexts. It also provides a lens on how companies sometimes ‘cut and
paste’ business models and promotional discourse from other companies
and adapt them to local conditions.
This paper explores the way Chinese companies appropriate discourses of
personal genomics from US companies and adapt them to the particular
socioeconomic, political and cultural conditions of China. Drawing on
principles of multimodal and mediated discourse analysis, it analyzes
the websites of three Chinese personal genomics companies, focusing on
the way they portray their missions, claim credibility, position their
customers, and discuss issues like identity, disease risk, and privacy.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about these websites is the degree to
which they extensively appropriate (sometimes verbatim) texts and images
from the websites of US companies, especially 23andMe. Even more
interesting, however, is the waythese images and discourses are
transformed as they are strategically recontextualized. Despite this
widespread ‘copying’, Chinese companies promote a very different
understanding of personal genomics than their US and European
counterparts. This analysis points to ways sociolinguistics can
contribute to debates not just about the popular understanding of
science, but also about issues of intellectual property and
intertextuality in the global business environment.
Looking forward to welcoming you all to an engaging and stimulating talk.
Best wishes,
Johanna and Susanne
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