KOME

Prolegomena for any Future Narrative Literaturemetrics

2024-10-11T14:38:42+02:00

This paper introduces the concept of narrative literaturemetrics, a novel mixedmethods approach that applies the quantitative metrics traditionally used in bibliometrics to the field of literature. Utilising an extended version of Bourdieu’s field theory, this study draws parallels between academia and literature, emphasising the applicability of concepts such as capital, field, and agents to literary analysis. Despite the evident similarities, there has been a surprising lack of field-theoretical studies employing bibliometric methodologies within literary studies. This paper addresses that gap by outlining the theoretical foundations and methodological considerations of narrative literaturemetrics. It discusses adapting bibliometric indicators to literary analysis and highlights the distinctions necessary to respect the unique norms governing literature and academia. Furthermore, the paper explores the emerging qualitative turn in bibliometrics, particularly the development of narrative bibliometrics, and its relevance to the proposed approach. By detailing the conceptual framework and potential applications of narrative literaturemetrics, this study aims to establish a comprehensive model for future empirical research in literary studies.

The Effect of Rhetorical Styles on Metadiscourse Choices of Culturally Diverse Authors

2024-05-15T21:11:12+02:00

There is a perception that the influence of culture-specific rhetorical styles means that academic writing can include a great deal of variety. This study aims to test this hypothesis by exploring the role of rhetorical styles in the choice of interactional metadiscourse by academic writers with different cultural backgrounds. Linguistics research article abstracts by L2 writers from Asian and Slavic countries were used in this contrastive study based on Hyland’s (2005a) model of metadiscourse. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis methods, the study revealed that English-language academic discourse by Slavic writers contained a larger number of hedges and attitude markers and a smaller number of boosters. In contrast to Slavic writers, Asian scholars left far fewer traces of themselves and took more explicitly involved positions. The paper contributes to intercultural pragmatics and may have some implications for English as a lingua franca in academic settings.

Perceptions of Journalism in a Cross-National Perspective

2024-07-15T13:56:14+02:00

This study compares news users’ perceptions of journalism in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Two cross-national surveys were conducted, each with over 2,000 participants in the respective countries. The surveys examined users’ evaluations of journalism’s relevance to society and its fulfilment of three key functions: holding the powerful to account, rapidly disseminating information to the public and providing analysis of current affairs. The findings highlight a gap between the social importance attributed to journalism and satisfaction with media performance. Information dissemination is perceived as the most effectively achieved function, while functions requiring more watchdog or analytical efforts receive less recognition in media activity. Age and education level are influential socio-demographic variables in news users’ perceptions. Older respondents and those with higher education levels view journalism as more relevant. Finally, Germany places a higher importance on journalism compared to Spain, with the United Kingdom occupying an intermediate position.

#Feminazis on Instagram

2024-04-23T11:56:05+02:00

Social media platforms have become spaces for the viralisation of hate speech and misinformation. Paradoxically, tools that were once used for activism and conversation on behalf of vulnerable communities, nowadays work to gather and reproduce analogous worldviews on polarising issues. This research analyses the behaviour of the protagonists of the conversation around #feminazis on Instagram, as well as the characteristics of the content and the degree of interaction they generate. For this purpose, computational and qualitative social science methods have been applied to a sample of 9,300 posts published between 2021 and 2023. The results show disorderly participation by anonymous accounts, women and self-described feminists, social organisations, and pseudo-media. Content opposed to elective termination of pregnancy, and misogynistic messages lead the conversation, but there are also publications that attack other progressive ideologies. Disinformative content is linked to decontextualisation and manipulation of information to go viral, transnationalising hate speech towards feminism and their supporters, framed as a homogeneous group. It is concluded that this space, created by the platform itself, contributes to the enlargement and institutionalisation of the manosphere.

What Motivates University Students to Counter Fake News?

2024-07-29T10:24:48+02:00

Fake news identification has been widely studied in the past, but research on motivating individuals, particularly university students, to fact-check news and disseminate corrective information to counter fake news is lacking. Grounded on the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), this study aims to examine the situational perceptions and referent criterion that motivate university students to counter fake news through communicative action and examine the influence of new media literacy on the situational perceptions and referent criterion. Based on 528 responses from an online survey, new media literacy is related to all STOPS factors in countering fake news. Situational perceptions are significantly related to situational motivation in countering fake news, while situational motivation and referent criterion significantly influence communicative action. The findings extend the existing literature on countering fake news and are expected to contribute to strategic planning in future anti-fake news intervention campaigns.

“Social Workers Should Be Required to Watch this Episode”

2024-03-01T11:23:36+01:00

Child Protective Services (CPS) workers appear in television plotlines across every fiction genre, and these depictions are often quite unfavourable. Customer engagement behaviours (CEBs), or what viewers say in online forums or on social media influence how other viewers perceive CPS workers. This interconnectivity is examined here through the framework of CEBs and Social TV using case studies from four popular programs: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), Shameless, Law and Order: SVU (SVU), and The Sandman. These case studies were compared for accuracy against observations given by a former Child Protective Investigator, whose feedback indicated that the realistic programs (SVU and Shameless), while being overly dramatised, had more authentic and balanced CPS portrayals than the fantasy programs (BtVS and The Sandman). Common themes from the audience in the CEBs are: CPS workers are overworked, underpaid, and too bureaucratic; greed motivates some families to foster or adopt children; and that the system of protective services is broken.

Cancel Culture or the Realpolitik of the Participatory Turn

2024-07-22T10:09:28+02:00

My argument is that the participatory ethos has contributed to cancel culture. I analyse various framings of cancel culture, as it is a complex phenomenon, one aspect of which concerns myth and ritual. I connect this to criticism of the participatory turn in contemporary art, which claims that participation is a public ritual that has been politically co-opted for different ends, such as producing fake consensus or the illusion of democratic engagement. To test my argument, I analyse my own cancellation, whilst being involved in Hungarian feminism, which in my experience has been a backwater in political parties and lobbies. I claim that the participatory turn has indeed been co-opted, either to represent participation, or as formats for politically instrumentalised subjectivation rituals. Cancellations take place when rituals of subjectivation and representation become sacrificial rituals, since sacrificing someone imbues participation with affect.