The Construction of ‘Ordinariness’ across Media Genres
Editors
| University of Augsburg
| Bar-Ilan University
Departing from the premise that ‘being ordinary’ is brought into the discourse and brought out in the discourse and is thus an interactional achievement, the contributions to this edited volume investigate its construction, reconstruction and deconstruction in media discourse. Ordinariness is perceived as a scalar notion which is conceptualised against the background of both non-ordinariness and extra-ordinariness. The chapters address its strategic construction across media genres (public talk, Prime Minister’s Questions, interview, radio call-in, commenting) and discursive activities (tweets, social media posts) as done in various languages (American English, Austrian German, British English, Chinese, French, Finnish, Hebrew and Japanese) by professional participants (e.g., politicians, journalists, scientists) and by ordinary people participating in media discourse (e.g., ordinary citizens, viewers, members of the audience). Discursive strategies used to bring about (non/extra) ordinariness include small stories, quotations, conversational style, irony, naming and addressing as well as references to the private-public interface.
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 307] 2019. vi, 297 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
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1–17
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Part I. Constructing ordinariness in politicians’ discourse
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21–50
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51–72
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73–101
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103–129
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Part II. Constructing ordinariness in experts’ discourse
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133–155
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157–178
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179–205
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Part III. Constructing ordinariness in ordinary media
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209–236
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237–267
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269–293
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Index
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295–297
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“A ubiquitous phenomenon in public communication, ordinariness has thus far received surprisingly little attention in discourse studies. The present volume fills this gap, defining original research handles and applying them to a broad spectrum of media, political, and expert discourses. Drawing on data from a range of languages and media cultures, from American to Finnish, the chapters highlight the intriguing ways in which public/private identities are constructed and strategically conflated in discourse interaction to enact multiple social and political goals. Altogether, the volume constitutes much recommended reading for scholars working in and across the fields of pragmatics, discourse analysis, media communication, as well as social psychology and political science.”
Piotr Cap, University of Lodz
“The practice of doing 'being ordinary' has become pervasive in contemporary social, cultural and political lives. Ordinary people are central producers of content and 'ordinariness' has become a token of authenticity for political representatives and public figures. This volume brings together a group of established and emerging scholars who have advanced our understanding of the performances and representations of ordinariness across a range of contexts, media and genres. "The Construction of 'Ordinariness' across Media Genres" is a must-read collection and offers cutting-edge perspectives on one of the most intriguing discursive phenomena of our time.”
Zohar Kampf, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
“Continuing their innovative and prolific earlier publications and international cooperation, Anita Fetzer and Elda Weizman in this new book present an extraordinary selection of articles inspired by Harvey Sacks’ famous article on “doing ordinariness”. Scholars from Israel, Austria, China, France, Japan and Finland, analyzing various social and other media genres and contexts show how with subtle discursive strategies non-ordinary speakers such as elite politicians or financial experts engage in “doing ordinariness” to make a positive political or professional impression – and how ordinary speakers may functionally display their ordinariness. A unique combination of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, genre theory, positioning theory and conversation analysis.”
Teun A. van Dijk, Centre of Discourse Studies, Barcelona
“In this era of globalization and new media, the present volume is recommended as being of great interest to any academics and researchers involved in pragmatics and discourse.”
Yongfeng Zhao, Sichuan International Studies University, in Pragmatics and Society 11:4 (2020)
Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
No author info given
2021.
In Approaches to Internet Pragmatics [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 318],
No author info given
2021.
In Approaches to Internet Pragmatics [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 318],
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Subjects
Communication Studies
BIC Subject: CFG – Semantics, Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis
BISAC Subject: LAN009030 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Pragmatics