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31 - Mediatized Communication and Linguistic Reflexivity in Contemporary Public and Political Life

from Part VI - Discourses, Publics and Mediatization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2020

By
Cedric Deschrijver
Edited by
Anna De Fina  and
Alexandra Georgakopoulou
Anna De Fina
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
Alexandra Georgakopoulou
Affiliation:
King's College London
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Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the concept of “mediatization” and its different applications. It distinguishes “institutional,” “social constructionist” and “linguistic-anthropological” understandings of the concept. After defining and discussing each understanding, the chapter draws attention to how the linguistic-anthropological approach may be employed in discourse-analytical research. Specifically, the approach is argued to be highly amenable with a focus on metapragmatics. Much like a focus on metapragmatics reflects language users’ awareness of language use, mediatization may reflect their understanding of the nature of the communication they are engaged in. After providing several examples, the chapter discusses how discourse-analytic methods may further complement the development of mediatization frameworks. Looking ahead, these developments will need to take into account a surge in multimodal content, the increasingly global reach of communications, and ever-shifting social media potentials.

Keywords

Mediatizationrecontextualizationmetapragmaticsmedia logiccommoditizationaudience uptakeonlinecommunicationmultimodalityprosumption communicationglobal nature of
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Discourse Studies , pp. 687 - 707
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

Further Reading

Agha’s linguistic-anthropological approach to mediatization emphasizes the importance of commoditized features of communication and their influence in the recontextualization of parts of discourse. It is recommended further reading, especially for a theory of how language/discourse travels across different communication media (cf. Briggs, 2011).

This revised account of the notion of “media logic” underpins (institutional) mediatization research and discusses the discourses of fear as developed and sustained by media logic.

The introduction to this edited volume offers a rich and comprehensive overview of mediatization research, its potential applications and its links with sociolinguistics. The volume overall is an indispensable tool for familiarizing oneself with mediatization research.

This social-constructionist account of mediatization in online discourses on economic affairs proposes the concept of “social mediatization” to account for the ever-growing importance of social media interactions in influencing and shifting modes of participation. It also illuminates the spread and recontextualization of elite terms/discourse in public settings.

The author provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which technological change in communication has affected newspaper communication and how processes of communication may continue to be changed by technological developments.

Agha, A. (2011c). Meet Mediatization. Language & Communication 31: 163–70.
Altheide, D. L. (2013). Media Logic, Social Control, and Fear. Communication Theory 23: 223–38.
Androutsopoulos, J. (2014). Mediatization and Sociolinguistic Change: Key Concepts, Research Traditions, Open Issues. In Androutsopoulos, J. (ed.) Mediatization and Sociolinguistic Change. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 3–48.
Georgakopoulou, A. and Deschrijver, C. (2018). Introduction to the Special Issue: The Social Mediatization of the Economy: Texts, Discourses, and Participation. Language@Internet 16: article 1.
Schmitz, U. (2014). Semiotic Economy, Growth of Mass Media Discourse, and Change of Written Language through Multimodal Techniques: The Case of Newspapers (Printed and Online) and Web Services. In Androutsopoulos, J. (ed.) Mediatization and Sociolinguistic Change. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 279–304.

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