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Part of
Structures in Discourse: Interaction, adaptability, and pragmatic functions
Edited by Martin Gill, Aino Malmivirta and Brita Wårvik
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 345] 2024
► pp. 103–123

Temporality in reaction GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives

| Åbo Akademi University

This chapter explores temporality and virtual performativity in Graphic Interchange Format images (GIFs), short, looping image sequences that may include text. Previous studies have shown that GIFs are decontextualized and recontextualized by users to perform embodied verbal and non-verbal reactions online. However, the temporal aspect of GIFs has received less attention from an online communication perspective. The chapter focuses on reaction GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives on a Tumblr blog featuring humorous political commentary. The analysis examines the temporal dimension of these performatives and shows how the Tumblr blog author exploits the temporal malleability of GIFs to anchor them in the immediate context of their usage.

Keywords: GIFs, digital fragments, virtual performativity, temporality
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Previous research on GIFs in digital communication
    • 2.2Virtual performativity
      • 2.2.1Temporality and virtual performativity
  • 3.Data and methods
  • 4.GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives
  • 5.Temporal orientation in GVPs
    • 5.1Overview
    • 5.2Linking the past to the present moment
    • 5.3Ongoing actions and continuous states
    • 5.4Projections
  • 6.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
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