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Interveners’ performance of “identity work” in the context of Chinese bystander intervention

ORCID logo | Nanjing UniversityNanjing
| Nanjing UniversityNanjing
The present study examines a variety of “identity work” that interveners perform discursively in the context of Chinese bystander intervention, a communicative strategy underexplored in related literature. Analyzing data from 3 Chinese social observation TV shows, it showcases the varied categories of identity work performed and the discursive practices employed by the interveners. It demonstrates that identity work is a common device used by Chinese intervener to serve the purpose of intervention and that it is driven by their needs to seek interactional power, pursue social alignment and justify accusation. Hopefully, the present study could lend further support to the current conceptualization of identity as communicators’ resource to satisfy their communicative needs in Chinese social interaction.
Keywords: identity work, pragmatic identity, bystander intervention, intervener, discursive practice
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research background
    • 2.1Pragmatic approaches to identity and identity work
    • 2.2Bystander intervention
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Categories of identity work by the intervener
    • 4.1Identity constructing
    • 4.2Identity checking
    • 4.3Identity deconstructing
    • 4.4Identity foregrounding
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author queries
  • References
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