Article published In:
PragmaticsVol. 29:4 (2019) ► pp.521–544
Impolite viewer responses in Arabic political TV talk shows on YouTube
The article deals with the features of impolite responses of YouTube Arab viewers of political TV talk shows. YouTube comments are written discourse of live commentary, a new genre of computer-mediated communication. Based on data from comments of Arabic viewers of political TV talk shows on YouTube, the article argues that impolite responses appear to be a common feature in Arabic comments in political talk shows on YouTube. Identity and power are reconsidered in this paper as variables that trigger impoliteness in Arabic online responses in political talk shows on YouTube. It argues that obscuring identity online incites the use of conventionalized impoliteness to exercise power on the TV presenter or the TV episode’s guest. The article also shows how communication variables such as context, commentator’s identity and models of communication influence the realization of impolite responses in those online interactions. The study draws on Spencer-Oatey (2007) to correlate identity, power, and impoliteness. It also utilized Culpeper’s (2011) bottom-up model of impoliteness triggers.
Keywords: pragmatics, impoliteness, power, critical discourse analysis, identity, live commentary, computer-mediated communication
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1Background
- 1.2Research questions
- 2.Literature review
- 3.Data
- 3.1Live text commentary as a new genre
- 3.2Moderation
- 4.Method of analysis
- 5.Results and data discussion
- 5.1Insults
- 5.2Pointed criticisms/complaints
- 5.3Unpalatable questions and/or presuppositions
- 5.4Condescensions
- 5.5Message enforcers
- 5.6Dismissals
- 5.7Silencers
- 5.8Threats
- 5.9Negative expressives
- 5.10Implicational impoliteness
- 6.Functions of YouTube impolite responses
- 7.Participants’ identity
- 8.Impoliteness in live commentary as a strategic tool
- 9.Conclusion
-
Data -
References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
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