Sprache, Genres und Diskurstraditionen. Kognitionslinguistische Modelle im Lichte der romanistischen Theoriebildung
Abstract This paper provides an overview of the recent developments in genre-related studies within the frameworks of Construction Grammar and Cognitive Grammar and compares them to the notion of discourse traditions, which is well-established in Romance linguistics but remains mostly unknown outside of it. It will be shown that, whereas the notion of discourse traditions finds its origins in Coseriu’s full-fledged general theory speaking, recent constructionist approaches to linguistic genres (communicative genres, discourse genres, sedimented patterns, discourse patterns) are merely on the verge of developing into an integrated theory of language. Conversely, this paper will point to those aspects of more recent theories that offer the advantage of focusing on the cognitive dimension of the production, reception and interpretation of linguistic genres. Finally, it will be argued that despite their similarities, each notion provides a distinct perspective on its object.