Bullfighting is one of the most persistent Spanish traditions throughout our history. For a long time, this practice has been considered one of the most significant characteristics of Spanish culture. However, this tradition has caused numerous social mobilizations alleging the suffering of the main animals, the bulls. Today, there is a division among Spaniards who believe that bullfighting is part of our culture and, therefore, should continue. On the contrary, there are social circles that advocate the needlessness of this practice that only abuses and mistreats animals and therefore should be eliminated. In these two texts the figure of both is contrasted: the bull and the bullfighter. In text C we can see a positive characterization of the bullfighter but in text D we see a clear example of opposition to this tradition and a victimization of the animal. Text C is a novel in Scythian prose by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez called “Blood and Sand” published in 1908. Text D is a humorous text by “Entrelacemos las claws”. Both texts are aimed at a general audience through the mass media, especially the D text as it is published on the Facebook digital platform. But we can distinguish that text C is more conditioned by the content of it and by the position shown through the protagonist. The protagonist disseminates his content through a linguistic code while the text D uses a syncretic code thanks to its laconic and visual format that reaffirms his interest in reaching the widest possible audience.
The latter uses both codes differently because the iconic message is complemented with the linguistic message and not in the opposite direction, while in the first text the comparison between texts is impossible since only one code is presented. Only the fragment of “Blood and Sand” is composed of seven paragraphs, due to the difference in textual typologies. From lines 1-8 Blasco Ibáñez introduces us to the protagonist and his profession, from there to line 30 the author puts us in context on the situation in which the protagonist is giving us a clue about the vision of this society before the bullfighting that is so different from the vision presented by the text D. In the last part the author explores the thoughts of Gallardo, the protagonist, which allows us to know him better as a person. Both texts use different resources to obtain different reactions from the readers. In text C, the expressive function of language is used in order to explore the world in which the protagonist lives and thus entertain us. On the contrary, text D does not intend to entertain us but wants the reader to reflect on bullfighting and the damage it is doing to the bull and thus make us aware to stop supporting this practice. These two texts, in order to obtain these different reactions, use different tones; the text C uses a dramatic tone by repeatedly praising Gallardo and presenting him as a hero before the audience, the text D, however, tries the opposite: to victimize the animal through a tragic tone in order to obtain the empathy and support of the target. The last text uses the appellative function in a somewhat peculiar way, since instead of appealing to the reader through the “you”, it appeals to the reader as a practicing community of bullfighting.
In order to achieve these reactions through the use of language and tone functions, both use a standard formal register to understand the message clearly and not limit its target. The latter is, above all, crucial for the second text as it has more urgency to establish a contact with the reader with respect to the other text. To maximize the efficiency caused by this urgency, a laconic and nominalised format is used as well as connoted words to condition the reader’s thoughts. In the fragment of Blasco Ibáñez, we can see numerous juxtapositions such as for example: “It was the first bullfight of the spring season, and Gallardo’s enthusiasts showed great hopes” or “The previous afternoon I had fought in Ciudad Real, and still dressed in the costume of lights got into the train, to arrive in the morning in Madrid” This use of syntactic structure allows the reader to expand on the descriptions of the environment and the thoughts of the protagonists to achieve its playful end in a more efficient way and that the reader uses his imagination to capture the reader and to continue reading. It also employs an omniscient narrator who provides the reader with these typical descriptions of the novel as we can see in: “Gallardo le cararició la cabeza” (Gallardo caressed his head) or “Los dos pequeños contemplaron religiosamente” (The two little ones contemplated religiously) another feature that Blasco Ibáñez exploits and that is crucial for the content are the connoted words. Its use is so important because it tries to give heroism and positivity to the protagonist with words such as: “enthusiasts”, “godson” or “hero”. The use of connoted words is also crucial for the other text but to create the opposite impression and thus victimize the bull, that is, both texts use the same resource but to generate different responses. Examples of this connotation can be seen in the word forgive (which is only used when someone has done something wrong, in this case bullfighting) and in the use of the word violence.
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The latter proposes the controversy explained above about the two postures in which the Spanish people are immersed: Is bullfighting violence or tradition? In addition to the use of this type of words we can say that the image itself is designed to provoke a reflection to change the position of the target. The image focuses its full visual weight on the bull and the bullfighter hugging each other showing the whole body. As focal points are identified the logo, the position in which is both the bull and the bullfighter and the slogan of the campaign. This image is so connoted because in the kinesic of the bullfighter guilt is perceived as he is crying and apologizing to the bull and the bull is embracing him with a consoling face. This may indicate a metaphorical reconciliation between the abused animal and the cause of the problem that can only be achieved through the elimination of bullfighting. It is also interesting to see how in the logo above to the right, you see a part of the bull being stabbed by the bullfighter, thus highlighting the bad reputation that should have the bullfighters but just below we have the embrace between the bullfighter and the bull. This can mean that the campaign gives us the two sides of the coin; one negative and the other repentant to contrast the ideas reflected in the image and thus maximize its communicative intention. In addition, both the novel and the image use a legible typography so that the whole audience can easily understand what they want to express. Another characteristic of the image is that the embrace is not framed to make room for the slogan which is also very important because it is what complements the iconic code and thus completes the message. This cannot happen in the text C because it only uses one code.
The slogan of the image is extremely laconic as it summarizes all its ideology in five words. This does not happen with the fragment of the novel since its communicative intentions are completely different. Both texts use different resources to communicate their message to their respective targets but text C also employs a poetic will that complements the desire to portray the figure of the bullfighter as a hero and provide drama. However, the text D humanizes, through a personification (since a bull cannot forgive), the bull so that the target empathizes with it and thus enhances the appellative function. In general, both texts use similar resources such as the appellative function to establish a quick relationship with the reader at a cultural level, but because of the layout or type of text, the result is completely different. The main difference that conditions this use in the opposition of the figure of the bullfighter since in text C he is presented as a heroic figure but in the other text a very negative opinion of this profession is generated. Both have known how to use the tools that would benefit them according to their interest in an effective way.
