Cinderella Without the Ashes

Linguistic Communication CINDERELLA WITHOUT THE ASHES Noemi BOMHER1 1. Prof., Phd, Dept. of Communication, Public Relations and Journalism, “Apollonia” University of Ia[i Corresponding author: noemibom@yahoo.com Abstract who (after having accepted humiliation) will get The modern success in advertising and in narrative social compensation –marriage with a prince – structure of fairytales starts from the way the mythical owing to her qualities: hard-working and universe is being organized regarding the tests that the obedience. characters have to pass and by which their humble initial This demonstration points out that any condition changes into a marvelous final condition with the help of love, fate and hard-working and their poor communication can be verbal (when information clothes become gorgeous. is transmitted in written or spoken form) or non- Keywords: fairytale, Cinderella, advertisement verbal (when this form of language is not used). With the help of emblems4 , we can semantically Fairytales belong to a world of fantasy, they understand many cultures and also the systems are part of our childhood, and in time we that are enclosed in them, we can see the discover that they are mirrors of the real life. transgressions of dynamic distances and When we talk about Cinderella, we should think furthermore, different social attitudes that are not only of an imaginary character, but also of a linked together, by means of a device used in the real one. She is a character that has survived over story. centuries in space, time and modernity. We must remind our readers that the first Who is Cinderella? First, we should think element in a fairytale sends us to communication about a girl unfairly treated and tortured by her based on gestures, the distances that are present step mother, a girl humiliated by her family, who in the inter-human space: had overworked herself near the vital source that · The intimate distance is the distance of love, 1 is fire, the ash pan (actually, in Romanian, her of protection, of caressing, of hugging, of name - Cenu[\reasa - signifies a household dance and of public distance, but at the 2 chore , meaning to be covered with ashes, same time it is the distance of aggression, coming from the word “cenu[ar” – ash pan – of violent clashes. For Cinderella, the with the feminine suffix “eas\”. In English, the distance of love had disappeared and was word is also derived from “cinder”, which is a replaced by the Step-Mother/The God- burned or partly burned substance, that is not Mother, the Step-Sisters. However, at the reduced to ashes). The term Cenu[\reasa – ball, the distance of dance and embrace Cinderella -, comes from the Latin *cinusia (< was present. cinis). However, in the end of the story, the ash · The personal distance is distinguished from on her clothes is being transformed into a the relation of Cinderella/cinder, ash, from wedding dress with the help of a magical shoe. the fire/ family love. In other words, the humiliation from the · the social distance, of the Step Family towards beginning of the fairytale becomes the glory of Cinderella, is an arbitrary culturally birds and songs. conditioned distance and can be handled With Cinderella we can follow the history of according to the communication intentions 3 communication , starting from the relationship with a Father, who turns into a protector with her own body (the symbol of the foot), with with the help of hazel nut tree twig/Absent her clothes and with a social model, young or Mother, as Prince. mature body, naked or dressed. The myth in this · The public distance – Cinderella/the Prince is fairytale illustrates a model of a human being reduced with the help of the glass shoe. 32 volume 1 • issue 1 January / March 2011 • p. 32-36 CINDERELLA WITHOUT THE ASHES But what do we discover regarding 4. the sacred model in discovering fear and subconscious from this fairytale? The function wonder (the Birds); of “the hero’s departure” corresponds to an 5. the decoding of the paradox in the unity of action, while the function of “ absence, opposing elements (Fire/Ashes); prejudice”, represents a condition, a canonic 6. the imagery of symbols and metaphors, form of story, as a relationship between initiating identity (Princes and Cinderellas) characters and as a succession of actions – the 7. communication with a group of naïve, narrative scheme is used artistically and efficient and competent readers ( high practically at present. When she gives up being a heeled shoes ,Fendi) Cinderella, we have got a new paradigmatic segmentation or a combination of polar My title, Cinderella without Ashes, tries to be a functions: joke, pointing to a Cinderella without clothes, it • leaving vs. returning. aims to be an advertisement meant to draw • the formulation of the interdiction vs. the attention to the disappearance of a chromatic transgression of the interdiction. final residue, ashes, as a symbol of fear in the There are three main tests that define the fairytale. canonic scheme owing to their articulations that All readers are familiar with this fairytale, characterize a (figurative) story: they all know that shoes are a paradox of vanity, • the qualification test: the hero is endowed they catch the attention of an ephemeral prince, with magical instruments or powers, e.g., who has money and dances; while ladies cannot he may become invisible, etc. resist the attraction of a clothing symbol, the • the decisive test: the subject fulfills the shoes, which are not a symbol of hard working, tasks imposed on him, such as killing the but of vanity, which is more attractive than an evil forces, the liberation of victims etc. academic system. • the glorification test: the subject is The linguistic message depends on the image, perceived for what he/she is and for what on the name of the brand, Fendi, and also on the he/she has done (as Cinderella recognized verbal commentary: as princess). • the iconic denotative message (the Finding a unique partner and trying a shoe on photographic image of the object, quasi may be either a ceremonious or a ridiculous tautological in relationship with the real gesture, like in the American movie, but, at the object); same time, it represents the transition from a • the iconic connotative message (symbolic cultural system somehow fixed in time and for all associations in Cinderella represents space(here it is evident the differences between the image of the product). the French and the German version) to a global The publicity genre has been defined in the cultural system, where motives are being light of the complementarity of codes and by organized allegorically, from failure/ making the clear cut distinction between overt discomfort/ unhappiness towards success / meaning –shoes help walking – and hidden comfort /happiness. On the other hand, from a meaning – buy them! There are five types of linguistic and an imaginary point of view, the codifying a message in an advertisement: two versions of the initial story differ: • iconic (similar to the denotative icon: a 1. the unique denominator (Cinderella); flying shoe!) 2. the relationship with the space of hell and • iconographic (based on the cultural paradise (Mother, Godmother, Step traditions and genre conventions, similar Mother); to the icon: a magical shoe); 3. the relationship with the external and • tropologic (visual stylistic figures, internal duality (the desire for primarily the metaphor and the embellishment); metonymy: high heels make you sexy!); International Journal of Communication Research 33 Noemi BOMHER • topic (the pre-requisites and the argumentative common elements, especially if we consider quantity: Everyone uses Fendi shoes! And when we take into discussion quality, it is the uniqueness that matters: Only Fendi makes you beautiful!) • enthymematic (actualized narrative structure, based on enthymemes, or Clothes play an important role nowadays and mystery, such is the case of winning the fairytales are marvelous opportunities illustrate prince’s heart so that the argumentative the symbols of clothing designs. The symbol of efficiency is emphasized). clothes may express the opposition between the The communication with one’s own body is sobriety and the power that some clothes might more or less symbolic5 , but it is an important have, especially when they belong either to a part of existence. The happy-ending in Cinderella, master or to a servant in a sacred or dangerous the main character is rewarded by marrying the space, and the erotic game present also at this Prince, can offer useful pieces of advice to level (for instance, Catalin Botezatu got his first educate its listeners (they could become hard- success by presenting naked male models, while working and they could start loving birds, his second success was linked to his name maybe a Step Mother and Step-Sisters), but it humorously changed into Catalin Dezbracatu - can also have the role of advertising for women Catalin Undressed). who can buy elegant shoes, in order to create an The main character with a pejorative erotic image. nickname, Cinderella, assumes necessary Actually, a fairy-tale like Cinderella, humiliation; although she is hard-working, she represents a series of features with which some admires the beautiful clothes of her Step-Sisters. characters are endowed and an analysis of the She asks for an apparently insignificant gift, a fairy-tale will reveal the symbolism of gestures. rod, but with this gift she gets rid of her It seems that this fairytale, Cinderella6 , is nickname by attending, for three times, under characteristic for modern melodrama, because it disguise, the dancing parties in the company of contains a special polyphonic value, being the Prince. Cinderella manages to get a husband created as a counterpoint mystery (the characters and is in the position to be generous to her Step are arranged in visible and invisible pairs).

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