Metapragmatic discourses in differentiating genres in online media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu09.2021.207Abstract
One of the possible ways to explore contextualization is through external discourses referencing the pragmatics of the discourse in question. These are known as metapragmatic discourse. The purpose of this article is to theoretically integrate the concept of metapragmatics into genre analysis and apply metapragmatic tools to the analysis of specific genres. Five YouTube videos together with their accompanying comments exhibiting metapragmatic properties were analyzed. Methodologically, the analysis relies on the textually oriented content analysis. The results indicate that placing discourses nominally relying on one and the same generic form into a certain genre may be predicated on contextual variables that may have nothing to do with said form per se. These variables, however, may be verbalized by the original author and by their audience in the form of metapragmatic markers. This may mean that for the final addressee, the “effect” of the original discourse will depend on the attribution of this discourse, based on the metapragmatic markers, to one of the “competing” genre variations emerging, as it were, in an ongoing exchange between the author and his audience. A case in point are sponsored and “honest” review genres. A second observation resides in the realm of hybrid genres. An example here is integrating sponsored content into one of the “legitimate” lifestyle-genres (“hot tips”, vlog, etc.). A fraction of the discourse community seems to view this as delegitimizing the discourse and the genre in question, while others see it as an “unfortunate insert”, which does not, however, change the genre’s overall value. This leaves the question open whether such genres should be considered new and full-fledged genres, with sponsored content being one of their integral features.
Keywords:
metapragmatics, metapragmatic discourse, contextualization, hybrid genres, digital genres
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References
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Agha 2011 — Agha A. Commodity registers. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. 2011, 21 (1): 22–53.
Andersen, van Leeuwen 2017 — Andersen T.H., van Leeuwen T.J. Genre crash: The case of online shopping. Discourse, Context & Media. 2017, (20): 191–203.
Askehave, Swales 2001 — Askehave I., Swales J.M. Genre identification and communicative purpose: A problem and a possible solution. Applied Linguistics. 2001, 22 (2): 195–212.
Auer 1992 — Auer P. Introduction: John Gumperz’ Approach to Contextualization. In: The Contextualization of Language. Auer P., Di Luzio A. (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1992. P. 1–37.
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Bauman, Briggs 1990 — Bauman R., Briggs C.L. Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual Review of Anthropology. 1990, (19): 59–88.
Bhatia 2005 — Bhatia V.K. Generic patterns in promotional discourse. In: Persuasion across genres: A linguistic approach. Halmari H., Virtanen T. (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2005. P. 213–225.
Bhatia 2015 — Bhatia V.K. Critical genre analysis: Theoretical preliminaries. Hermes — Journal of Language and Communication in Business. 2015, 27 (54): 9–20.
Blommaert 2015 — Blommaert J. Meaning as a nonlinear effect: The birth of cool. AILA Review. 2015, (28): 7–27.
Boyd 2014 — Boyd M. S. (New) participatory framework on YouTube? Commenter interaction in US political speeches. Journal of Pragmatics. 2014, (72): 46–58.
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Corrigan 1997 — Corrigan P. The sociology of consumption. An introduction. London: SAGE Publications, 1997. 197 p.
Devitt 2009 — Devitt A.J. Re-fusing form in genre study. In: Genres in the internet: Issues in the theory of genre. Giltrow J., Stein D. (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2009. P. 27–48.
Devitt 2015 — Devitt A.J. Genre performances: John Swales’ Genre Analysis and rhetorical-linguistic genre studies. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 2015, (19): 44–51.
Hopkins 2016 — Hopkins J. The Lifestyle Blog Genre. In: Handbuch Soziale Praktiken und Digitale Alltagswelten. Friese H., Rebane G., Nolden M., Schreiter M. (eds). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2016. P. 1–8.
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Machin, van Leeuwen 2007 — Machin D., van Leeuwen T. Global media discourse: A critical introduction. London; New York: Routledge, 2007. 200 p.
Martin, White 2005 — Martin J.R., White P.R.R. The language of evaluation. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2005. 278 p.
Martín-Martín 2003 — Martín-Martín P. Genre and discourse community. ES: Revista de Filología Inglesa. 2003, 25 (25): 153–166.
Miller, Shepherd 2004 — Miller C., Shepherd D. Blogging as Social Action: A Genre Analysis of the Weblog. In: Into the Blogosphere Articles. Minneapolis; Saint Paul: University of Minnesota, 2004. http://hdl. handle.net/11299/172818 (accessed: 20.04.2020).
Moreno, Swales 2018 — Moreno A.I., Swales J.M. Strengthening move analysis methodology towards bridging the function-form gap. English for Specific Purposes. 2018, (50): 40–63.
Raisborough 2011 — Raisborough J. Lifestyle media and the formation of the self. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2011. 184 p.
Silverstein 1976 — Silverstein M. Shifters, linguistic categories, and cultural description. In: Meaning in anthropology. Basso K.H., Selby H.A. (eds). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1976. P. 11–55.
Silverstein 1979 — Silverstein M. Language structure and linguistic ideology. In: The elements: A parasession on linguistic units and levels. Clyne P.R., Hanks W.F., Hofbauer C.L. (eds). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 1979. P. 193–247.
Silverstein 1987 — Silverstein M. The Three Faces of “Function”: Preliminaries to a Psychology of Language. In: Social and functional approaches to language and thought. Hickmann M. (ed.). Orlando: Academic Press, 1987. P. 17–38.
Silverstein 1992 — Silverstein M. The indeterminacy of contextualization: When is enough enough? In: The Contextualization of Language. Auer P., Di Luzio A. (eds). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1992. P. 55–76.
Silverstein 1993 — Silverstein M. Metapragmatic discourse and metapragmatic function. In: Reflexive language: Reported speech and metapragmatics. Lucy J.A. (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. P. 33–58.
Spitzmüller 2015 — Spitzmüller J. Graphic variation and graphic ideologies: A metapragmatic approach. Social Semiotics. 2015, 25 (2): 126–141.
Talbot 1995 — Talbot M.M. A synthetic sisterhood: False friends in a teenage magazine. In: Gender articulated: Language and the socially constructed self. Hall K., Bucholtz M. (eds). New York: Routledge, 1995. P. 143–165.
Verschueren 2000 — Verschueren J. Notes on the role of metapragmatic awareness in language use. Pragmatics. 2000, 10 (4): 439–456.
White 2010 — White P.R.R. Taking Bakhtin Seriously: Dialogic effects in written, mass communicative discourse. Japanese Journal of Pragmatics. 2010, (12): 37–53.
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