The text as an open system and the prototypical configuration of authorial opinion articles

Abstract

Results from a research that investigated the probabilistic distribution of rhetorical relations of 150 authorial opinion articles, taken from Brazilian newspapers, are discussed here, considering the occurrence of continuity means and the relations established among levels of information. Enrique Bernárdez’ proposal, which links the RST model (Rhetorical Structure Theory) to the idea that the textual organization can be understood as a series of continuity means, labeled with the RST relations, was used to carry out this study. It was verified that the distribution of means and relations follows probabilistic criteria; the opinion articles have a prototypical configuration, considering their macro-structural rhetorical organization, noticed through the higher probability of the occurrence of certain means and relations rather than others, which have zero probability of occurrence; the producer’s strategic choices can be seen as actions to ensure the communicative goal of the opinion article in the prototypical context of the newspaper.