Cover not available
Part of
The Discursive Construction of Identities On- and Offline: Personal - group - collective
Edited by Birte Bös, Sonja Kleinke, Sandra Mollin and Nuria Hernández
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 78] 2018
► pp. 153–176

Indeterminate us and them: The complexities of referentiality, identity and group construction in a public online discussion

| University of Heidelberg and University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| University of Heidelberg and University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

This paper reinvestigates the polarizing effects of indeterminate first- and third-person plural pronouns and determiners (i.e. the we-set and the they-set) from a Digital Discourse perspective. Combining Critical Discourse Analysis and a cognitive-linguistic approach, it tackles the double-indexical nature of the use of the we-set and the they-set by the participants of the public discussion forum UK Debate. Our analysis of a sample thread considers both the referential and the propositional level and shows how users construct and negotiate potential in- and out-group referents at different degrees of specificity and as ranging between immediate discourse participants and external referents. Our analysis shows how major cognitive domains are triggered and how the specific selections of predications as cognitive access points form oscillating clusters of salient in- and out-group attributes. In this way, the analysis also aims to reveal manifestations of more permanent cultural and mental models.

Keywords: indeterminate first- and third-person-plural pronouns, double indexicality, referentiality, predications, cognitive domains, salience, power
Article outline
  • 1.Aims, data and methodology
  • 2.‘Identity’ and ‘referentiality’ in public online discussions
  • 3.Anaphoric, cataphoric and indeterminate pronoun reference in the sample thread
  • 4.Negotiating referential identity – the we-set and the they-set in indeterminate uses in the sample thread
    • 4.1The we-set
    • 4.2The they-set
  • 5.Constructing complex identities – predicating expressions and the propositional level
    • 5.1The they-set
    • 5.2The we-set
  • 6.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 23 July 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.78.07kle
References
Bazzanella, C.
(2002) The significance of context in comprehension: The ‘we case’. In B. Edmonds, & V. Akman (Eds.), Context in Context. Special issue of Foundations of Science, 7(3): 239–254.Google Scholar
Benveniste, E.
(1971) Problems in General Linguistics. Transl. by M. E. Meek. Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami Press.Google Scholar
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Leech, G.
(2002) Longman Students’ Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.Google Scholar
Bös, B., & Kleinke, S.
(2015) The complexities of thread-internal quoting in English and German online discussion fora. In W. Bublitz, J. Arendholz, & M. Kirner (Eds.), The Pragmatics of Quoting Now and Then (pp. 71–96). Leiden: Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K.
(2005a) Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4–5): 585–614. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2005b) Language and identity. In A. Duranti (Ed.), A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology (pp. 369–394). Malden, Mass.: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Locating identity in language. In C. Llamas, & D. Watt (Eds.), Language and Identities (pp. 18–28). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bull, P., & Fetzer, A.
(2006) Who are we and who are you? The strategic use of forms of address in political interviews. Text & Talk, 26(1): 1–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Croft, W., & Cruse, D. A.
(2004) Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dirven, R., Wolf, H. -G., & Polzenhagen, F.
(2007) Cognitive Linguistics and cultural studies. In D. Geeraerts, & H. Guykens (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 1203–1221). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dori-Hacohen, G.
(2014) Establishing social groups in Hebrew: ‘We’ in political radio phone-in programs. In T. -S. Pavlidou (Ed.), Constructing Collectivity: ‘We’ Across Languages and Contexts (pp. 187–206). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duszak, A.
(Ed.) (2002) Us and Others: Social Identities Across Languages, Discourses and Cultures. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Evans, V., & Green, M.
(2006) Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Greenbaum, S., & Quirk, R.
(1990) A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Hart, C.
(2010) Critical Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Science: Perspectives on Immigration Discourse. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hausendorf, H., & Kesselheim, W.
(2002) The communicative construction of group identities: A basic mechanism of social categorization. In A. Duszak (Ed.), Us and Others: Social Identities Across Languages, Discourses and Cultures (pp. 265–289). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Helmbrecht, J.
(2002) Grammar and function of we. In A. Duszak (Ed.), Us and Others: Social Identities Across Languages, Discourses and Cultures (pp. 31–49). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Janney, R. W.
(2002) Cotext as context: Vague answers in court. Language & Communication, 22(4): 457–475. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jespersen, O.
(1933 [2006]) Essentials of English Grammar. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kleinke, S., & Bös, B.
(2015) Intergroup rudeness and the metapragmatics of its negotiation in online discussion fora. In M. Locher, B. Bolander, & N. Höhn (Eds.), Relational Work in CMC. Special issue of Pragmatics, 25(1): 47–71.Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z.
(2009) Metaphor, culture and discourse: The pressure of coherence. In A. Musolff, & J. Zinken (Eds.), Metaphor and Discourse (pp. 11–24). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Musolff, A.
(2018) Nations as persons: Collective identities in conflict. In B. Bös, S. Kleinke, N. Hernández, & S. Mollin (eds.), The Discursive Construction of Identities: Personal–Group–Collective. (pp. 249–266). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kövecses, Z.
(2015) Where Metaphors Come From: Reconsidering Context in Metaphor. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuna, Á.
(2016) Personal deixis and self-representation in medical discourse: Usage patterns of first person deictic elements in doctors’ communication. Language, Communication, Information, XI: 99–121.Google Scholar
Lakoff, R.
(1990) Talking Power: The Politics of Language in Our Lives. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W.
(1991) Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Vol. 2, Descriptive Application. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
(2007) Constructing the meanings of personal pronouns. In G. Radden, K. -M. Köpcke, T. Berg, & P. Siemund (Eds.), Aspects of Meaning Construction (pp. 171–187). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leech, G., & Svartvik, J.
(2013) A Communicative Grammar of English (3rd ed.). London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Llamas, C., & Watt, D.
(2010) Introduction. In C. Llamas, & D. Watt (Eds.), Language and Identities (pp. 1–5). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mühlhäusler, P., & Harré, R.
(1990) Pronouns and People: The Linguistic Construction of Social and Personal Identity. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Pavlidou, T. -S.
(2014) Constructing collectivity with ‘we’: An introduction. In T. -S. Pavlidou (Ed.), Constructing Collectivity: ‘We’ Across Languages and Contexts (pp. 1–19). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Radden, G., & Dirven, R.
(2007) Cognitive English Grammar. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reisigl, M.
(2007) Discrimination in discourse. In H. Kotthoff, & H. Spencer-Oatey (Eds.), Handbook of Intercultural Communication (pp. 365–394). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R.
(2001) Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schaller, M., & Neuberg, S. L.
(2008) Intergroup prejudices and intergroup conflicts. In C. Crawford, & D. Krebs (Eds.), Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology (pp. 401–414). Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H., & Forgas, J.
(1981) Social categorization: Cognition, values and groups. In J. Forgas (Ed.), Social Cognition (pp. 113–140). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ungerer, F., & Schmid, H. -J.
(2006) An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. London: Longman.Google Scholar
van Dijk, T. A.
(2008) Discourse and Power. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Discourse and Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Westin, I.
(2002) Language Change in English Newspaper Editorials. Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R., de Cillia, R., Reisigl, M., & Liebhart, K.
(2009) The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 8 other publications

Cozma, Ana-Maria & Lotta Lehti
2021. Online Petition as an Echo Chamber. In Analyzing Digital Discourses, ► pp. 333 ff. DOI logo
Gür-Şeker, Derya, Ute K. Boonen & Michael Wentker
2022. Chapter 12. #conspiracymemes. In Conspiracy Theory Discourses [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 98], ► pp. 267 ff. DOI logo
Jaworska, Sylvia & Tigran Sogomonian
2019. After we #VoteLeave we can #TakeControl. In Reference and Identity in Public Discourses [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 306], ► pp. 181 ff. DOI logo
Kleinke, Sonja
2022. Constructing dementia in discourse. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 12:2 DOI logo
Kleinke, Sonja & Julia Landmann
2021. Cross-Cultural Observations on English and German Wikipedia Entries at the Interface of Convergence and Controversy. In Analyzing Digital Discourses, ► pp. 135 ff. DOI logo
Nevala, Minna & Ursula Lutzky
2019. Pragmatic explorations of reference and identity in public discourses. In Reference and Identity in Public Discourses [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 306], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Tanskanen, Sanna-Kaisa
2018. Identity and metapragmatic acts in a student forum discussion thread. In The Discursive Construction of Identities On- and Offline [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 78], ► pp. 133 ff. DOI logo
Xie, Chaoqun, Francisco Yus & Hartmut Haberland
2021. Introduction. In Approaches to Internet Pragmatics [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 318], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 january 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.