Being “geek” in digital communication: The case of Chinese online customer reviews

In popular culture, the stereotypically iconized “geek” can be identified in different media narratives from mainstream television to magazines. Drawing upon insights from sociolinguistics and business communication studies, this paper attempts to identify the discursive constructs of “being geek” i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCírculo de lingüística aplicada a la comunicación Vol. 86; no. 86; pp. 137 - 150
Main Authors Long, Chen, Hongqiang, Zhu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Madrid Universidad Complutense de Madrid 01.01.2021
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Servicio de Publicaciones
Ediciones Complutense
Subjects
Business
Business communication
Chinese languages
Communication
Computer mediated communication
Critical discourse analysis
Critical theory
Cultural identity
digital communication
Discourse analysis
Entertainment industry
geek
generic intertextuality
Intertextuality
online customer reviews
Popular culture
Sociolinguistics
Stereotypes
Television
Web site reviews
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Summary:In popular culture, the stereotypically iconized “geek” can be identified in different media narratives from mainstream television to magazines. Drawing upon insights from sociolinguistics and business communication studies, this paper attempts to identify the discursive constructs of “being geek” in Chinese digital business communication. By collecting the discourse data of online customer reviews from amazon.cn and analyzing the data based on the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, the study investigates how linguistic mechanisms operate in the shaping of geek culture and the construction of “being geek” in the participatory communication of business. The results revealed lexical variables and generic intertextuality are prominent in the discourse construction of “being geek”, to create a stimulus for a promotional culture in business communication.
ISSN:1576-4737
1576-4737
DOI:10.5209/clac.75499