“I concetti di ‘slowness’, ‘tradition’ ed ‘exclusivity’ nei siti web di turismo del lusso salentino: un’analisi cognitivo- esperienziale del discorso della persuasione”

This chapter reports a case study examining a corpus of English texts used to promote tourist facilities and local products on the web, in a perspective that identifies as luxury and refinement in the typical aspects of Salento not only the quality of the food, the beauty of the landscapes and of the tourist accommodation facilities, but also the amount of time required to fully enjoy them, the local traditions and the exclusivity of the whole experience. This chapter focuses on those conceptual, metaphorical and linguistic aspects that refer to the notions of “slowness”, “tradition” and “exclusivity” found in the total experience enjoyed by the tourist, highlighting the best examples of product advertising and explaining the persuasive intent of the linguistic devices which can make them competitive in international contexts. Within the same perspective of international competition, the role of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is examined, as it is considered here as a communicative (explanatory and persuasive) tool among non-native English speakers. Thus, its main aim is to enable communication through its conceptual and emotional leverage effects, which are manifested in the cognitive and communicative aspects of the message.