The Pragmatics of Negative Self-Identification: I Am What I’m Not

Beschreibung

This book explores how a seemingly simple phrase - variants of "I'm not a/n..." - can be analyzed linguistically to understand how web forum users negotiate identity while engaging in discussions on shared interests. Through a corpus-based study of instances where users define themselves by what they are not, the book highlights how identity is strategically performed to achieve communicative goals. It offers insight into how we linguistically present our opinions in the digital sphere, where questions of who can say what, and under what conditions, remain central.
Why do people in online forums say who they are not rather than who they are - especially when offline identities are unverifiable or irrelevant? And how do such linguistic moves reflect wider struggles over belonging and representation in digital publics? This book explores how negative self-identifiers - variants of the template "I'm not a..." - function as a linguistic strategy in English language web forums, revealing how users present themselves while negotiating shared interests and epistemic positions. It starts from the premise that identity is something we do - a linguistic performance shaped by context - and takes a critical interest in how the interactional micromanagement of identity relates to its broader sociopolitical dynamics. Adopting a corpus-pragmatic approach, the study examines how negative self-identification positions speakers in relation to their claims and foregrounds identity features that matter in the moment, critically connecting micro-level linguistic practice with wider debates on discourse, identity, and the politics of digitally mediated representation
An original study that connects the situated use of negative self-identifiers to questions about identity in contemporary, digitally mediated social life.

Autor*in

Eva Triebl

Themen in »The Pragmatics of Negative Self-Identification: I Am What I’m Not«

Pragmatics of digital discourse Online identity construction Negative self-identification in discourse Linguistic identity construction Corpus-assisted discourse analysis

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