El discurso escrito de la Odontología : análisis retórico discursivo de casos clínicos hispanos (1999-2005)

Morales, Oscar Alberto; Cassany, Daniel; Ilich Marín-Altuve, Ernesto; González-Peña, Carolina

El discurso escrito de la Odontología : análisis retórico discursivo de casos clínicos hispanos (1999-2005)

Citation

Morales OA, Cassany D, Ilich E, González-Peña C. El discurso escrito de la Odontología: análisis retórico discursivo de casos clínicos hispanos (1999-2005). MedULA: revista de la Facultad de Medicina. 2007; 16 (2): 75–82.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify and to analyze some rhetorical discursive features of dental case reports (CR). We analyzed a corpus of 40 CR, selected randomly from four Hispanic dental journals (1999-2005). We found that the format 'introduction,presentation of the case, discussion' predominated, being the 'presentation of the case' the distinctive section. The narrative descriptive sequences predominated in the three rhetorical sections. We found very few references; most of them in the 'introduction' and in the 'discussion' . Likewise, hedging devices were registered in the different rhetorical sections of the CR: impersonal constructions, used to hide the agent of the action, approximators, to express impression, variability and honesty. In relation to stance, impersonal constructions and majestic plural prevailed. We conclude that in spite of the rhetorical discursive variability, our corpus could be defined as a discursive, descriptive, narrative and impersonal genre. CR is an important genre for the dentistry subspecialties; therefore, our results have didactic applications for teaching dentistry discourse. To incorporate CR into the dentistry curriculum could help the students develop the competences to produce, understand and publish this genre.