The faxes sent and received during one week by a small Finnish company
involved in international operations were analyzed to determine whether or not
the business fax contains distinct features that warrant classifying it as a genre.
Using a framework of critical discourse analysis, the study looked at a total of
69 faxes. The results suggest that the business fax is a distinct, dynamic genre
that is constituted by and constitutive of the social practices within which it is
situated. Five specific subgenres of the business fax — identified as specific
information, specific requests, "for your information," first contact, and order —
were also found. Some implications of English being used as the common
language for faxes are also considered.
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