{"title":"An analysis of self-other representations in the incelosphere: Between online misogyny and self-contempt","authors":"Giuseppina Scotto di Carlo","doi":"10.1177/09579265221099380","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The present study intends to contribute to the analysis of digital discursive practices of hate speech expressed throughout the so-called ‘Manosphere’, a group of online communities in which men express their considerations about masculinity. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, it investigates how one of the main Manosphere groups, the Incels, creates its in-group/out-group discourse through its representations of women and of themselves. Driven by Critical Discourse Studies and studies on the ideological function of metaphors, the first part of the analysis reveals a conflation of apparently sarcastic metaphors, dark humour, and misogyny used to talk about women, while the second section of the study focuses on the peculiar self-representations of the men who participate in the forum, which breach Van Dijk’s ‘us vs them’ identity square pattern: rather than emphasising the positive traits of the in-group, incels describe themselves through self-derogative nominations and predications that give way to a spiral of self-pitying and self-contempt, which might be used to create fraternal bonds within the community.","PeriodicalId":47965,"journal":{"name":"Discourse & Society","volume":"34 1","pages":"3 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Discourse & Society","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265221099380","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
The present study intends to contribute to the analysis of digital discursive practices of hate speech expressed throughout the so-called ‘Manosphere’, a group of online communities in which men express their considerations about masculinity. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, it investigates how one of the main Manosphere groups, the Incels, creates its in-group/out-group discourse through its representations of women and of themselves. Driven by Critical Discourse Studies and studies on the ideological function of metaphors, the first part of the analysis reveals a conflation of apparently sarcastic metaphors, dark humour, and misogyny used to talk about women, while the second section of the study focuses on the peculiar self-representations of the men who participate in the forum, which breach Van Dijk’s ‘us vs them’ identity square pattern: rather than emphasising the positive traits of the in-group, incels describe themselves through self-derogative nominations and predications that give way to a spiral of self-pitying and self-contempt, which might be used to create fraternal bonds within the community.
期刊介绍:
Discourse & Society is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal whose major aim is to publish outstanding research at the boundaries of discourse analysis and the social sciences. It focuses on explicit theory formation and analysis of the relationships between the structures of text, talk, language use, verbal interaction or communication, on the one hand, and societal, political or cultural micro- and macrostructures and cognitive social representations, on the other hand. That is, D&S studies society through discourse and discourse through an analysis of its socio-political and cultural functions or implications. Its contributions are based on advanced theory formation and methodologies of several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.