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Part of
The Pragmatics of Adaptability
Edited by Daniel N. Silva and Jacob L. Mey
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 319] 2021
► pp. 213–234

Chapter 10
Discussing breast cancer in cyber spaces

A pragmatic study

| Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio
| Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio

The relationship between human beings and technology has raised concerns about adaptability as a major issue (Mey 2015a) in the cyber era. With a view to understanding how communication occurs in the modern world, Mey proposes four dimensions of adaptability for contemporary new technologies: the dimensions of time, place, persons and objects. In the present study, we use these dimensions to guide our analysis. Drawing on cyber-ethnographic studies (Hallett and Barber 2014; Emmanuel & Day 2011; Gebera 2008; Thomsen, Straubhaar, and Bolyard 1998), we have investigated a particular Brazilian breast cancer female patient’s cyberspace discourses, while focusing on the pragmatic analysis of digital data. Ours is a qualitative research study (Denzin & Lincoln 2006) and the theoretical framework includes narrative studies (De Fina & Georgakopoulou 2008; Bastos 2008); studies on identity and emotions; as well as studies on context, performance and agency in discourse (Austin 1962; Pereira & Cortez 2013). The study aims to answer the following questions: (i) How is adaptability observed through patient discourses and cyber access? (ii) What identities have been constructed through a particular patient’s discourses? (iii) How are emotions conveyed in the participant’s discourses?

Keywords: humans and technology, adaptability, cyberspace discourse, patient identity, breast cancer
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Discourses from the cyber spaces
    • 2.1Narratives of illness
    • 2.2Agency in discourse
  • 3. Dimensions of adaptability: Vitória and the cyberspaces
    • 3.1Dimensions of time and place (Mey 2015a)
      • 3.1.1Context
    • 3.2Dimensions of persons and objects (Mey 2015a)
      • 3.2.1 Vitória
      • 3.2.2Identities and performance
      • 3.2.3Emotions
  • 4.Cyberethnography
  • 5.Using social media to express oneself in cyberspace
    • 5.1 If I’m going to die, I’m not going out without a battle
    • 5.2I’m going through a basic transformation
    • 5.3Cancer patients have the right to be in priority lines
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • References
Published online: 17 March 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.319.10ama
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