Enquadrase

Enquadrase is a term used in theoretical discussions of framing to describe the deliberate process by which information is situated within a particular interpretive frame to shape audience understanding. The term appears in sociolinguistics, media studies, and communication research as an analytic category for how context, wording, and presentation influence interpretation.

Typology: Enquadrase can be discursive (linguistic framing through word choice, metaphors, and discourse structure) or visual (data visualization, imagery, and layout). It emphasizes audience-perceived fit between content and frame, rather than the content alone.

Mechanisms and indicators: Enquadrase operates via framing cues such as lexical choices, exemplars, and context expansion or contraction. Researchers may quantify its presence with metrics like framing alignment score, frame-salience index, and framing entropy derived from corpus analysis.

Applications and examples: In political communication, labeling policy proposals as "reform" rather than "cuts" constitutes a form of enquadrase that shapes perception. In journalism, headline and lede framing influence how readers interpret events. In marketing, product descriptions that foreground benefits over costs demonstrate enquadrase in consumer persuasion.

Origin and status: The term emerged in late 2010s in scholarly discussions and remains informal. It is not yet standardized across disciplines, and critics caution that its vagueness can hinder precise analysis or cross-study comparability.

See also: framing, cognitive bias, discourse analysis, narrative framing.