Abstract :
As a distinct socially constructed genre, wedding invitations (WIs) offer a fruitful
site for investigating how two areas of genre knowledge (i.e., form and content)
change over time under the influence of sociocultural forces. Through the
examination of 100 Iranian WIs dating from 1970s to the present time, the study
investigated the trajectories of change through time within the social semiotics
framework. Findings revealed that although the generic structures of Iranian WIs
have remained the same, their mode contents have undergone remarkable changes
across time. These changes are discernable in the nonverbal features of color, size,
design, and typography as well as the verbal features including text length,
formality, reference terms, and mood. Findings suggest that in today’s sociocultural
climate of Iran, creativity prevails over conventionalization, informality is favored
over formality, and solidarity tends to replace power in the hierarchical dimensions
of gender differentials and parental domination.
