Disagreement among Arabic speakers in faceless computer-mediated communication

Abstract

Abstract This study provides a pragmatic taxonomy of asynchronous computer-mediated expressions of disagreement by Arabic speakers. It draws on a specialized corpus of approximately fifty thousand words in the form of naturally occurring comments/posts compiled over a period of ninety days from 19 Arabic Facebook Pages and Groups in three topic areas: (i) religion, (ii) politics and (iii) society. Following Relational Work (Locher and Watts 2005, 2008), I propose ten discursive strategies as underlying patterns of the pragmatic realization of disagreement among Arabic speakers. These include IRRELEVANCY CLAIM, CONTRADICTION, COUNTERCLAIM, CHALLENGE, EXCLAMATION, VERBAL IRONY, ARGUMENT AVOIDANCE, MILD SCOLDING, SUPPLICATION, and VERBAL ATTACK. With the exclusion of some examples, I argue that most of these strategies are neither polite nor impolite, but rather appropriate (i. e., politic) in the context of disagreement. I also provide evidence that sociocultural and religious norms have impacts on SUPPLICATION and MILD SCOLDING.