A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach to Analyzing White Supremacist and Conspiratorial Discourse on YouTube

IF 1.8 Q2 COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION REVIEW Pub Date : 2022-10-02 DOI:10.1080/10714421.2022.2129122

Olivia Inwood, Michele Zappavigna

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since the 2016 US Presidential Election, extreme right-wing communities have gained extensive popularity on YouTube, spreading discourses of white supremacy and conspiracy. This paper focuses on how methods drawn from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) can be used to analyze this communication and contribute to research interests within the field of media and communication studies. SFL is a social semiotic model of language concerned with systematic analysis of language choices in terms of their social context. More specifically, this paper draws upon the Appraisal and Affiliation frameworks developed within SFL, in order to understand how patterns of evaluation are expressed in language and how these function in terms of aligning ambient audiences with particular values. YouTube videos and comments about the Notre Dame Cathedral Fire are used as a case study. The aim is to illustrate how this approach can offer an additional perspective on the issues of information disorder and hate speech that does not attempt to homogenize the multiple reasons why people engage in such hateful behavior.

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用系统功能语言学方法分析YouTube上白人至上主义者和阴谋论话语

摘要自2016年美国总统大选以来，极右翼社区在YouTube上广受欢迎，传播白人至上主义和阴谋论。本文的重点是如何利用系统功能语言学（SFL）的方法来分析这种传播，并为媒体和传播研究领域的研究兴趣做出贡献。SFL是一种语言的社会符号学模型，它关注从社会语境的角度对语言选择进行系统分析。更具体地说，本文借鉴了SFL内部开发的评估和隶属关系框架，以了解评估模式是如何用语言表达的，以及这些模式在使环境受众与特定价值观保持一致方面是如何发挥作用的。YouTube上关于圣母院大火的视频和评论被用作案例研究。其目的是说明这种方法如何为信息混乱和仇恨言论问题提供一个额外的视角，而不是试图将人们从事这种仇恨行为的多种原因同质化。

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来源期刊

COMMUNICATION REVIEW COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

5.30%

发文量