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Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19

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Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19. / Tao, Yingnian.
In: Discourse and Society, Vol. 32, No. 5, 01.09.2021, p. 622-638.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Tao, Y 2021, 'Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19', Discourse and Society, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 622-638. https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265211013116

APA

Tao, Y. (2021). Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19. Discourse and Society, 32(5), 622-638. https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265211013116

Vancouver

Tao Y. Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19. Discourse and Society. 2021 Sept 1;32(5):622-638. Epub 2021 May 9. doi: 10.1177/09579265211013116

Author

Tao, Yingnian. / Who should apologise : Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19. In: Discourse and Society. 2021 ; Vol. 32, No. 5. pp. 622-638.

Bibtex

@article{3fb13dca79734afa95b626f2c33485dd,
title = "Who should apologise: Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19",
abstract = "Previous studies on public opinion expression in communication, political science and discourse analysis are restricted to a censorship-/counter-censorship frame and focus their analysis on events with political agendas. This study explores netizens{\textquoteright} discursive practice by focusing the analysis on netizens{\textquoteright} language use in context per se, rather than from a censorship/counter- censorship viewpoint. It adopts a discursive pragmatic approach to examine a {\textquoteleft}mundane{\textquoteright} trending topic regarding a dispute between two public figures rather than {\textquoteleft}major{\textquoteright} events with acute social and political agendas. This study present evidence that Weibo users criticise public figures through indirect discursive strategies, including parody of name, constructed dialogues and rhetorical questions. It also highlights two prominent sentiments in Weibo public spheres during the COVID-19 pandemic – cyber nationalism and binary opposition between China and the rest of the world. The online backlash against Fang demonstrates how easily netizens can change their views towards a certain event.",
keywords = "COVID-19, criticism discourse, discursive pragmatics, opinion expression, Weibo",
author = "Yingnian Tao",
year = "2021",
month = sep,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/09579265211013116",
language = "English",
volume = "32",
pages = "622--638",
journal = "Discourse and Society",
issn = "0957-9265",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "5",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Who should apologise

T2 - Expressing criticism of public figures on Chinese social media in times of COVID-19

AU - Tao, Yingnian

PY - 2021/9/1

Y1 - 2021/9/1

N2 - Previous studies on public opinion expression in communication, political science and discourse analysis are restricted to a censorship-/counter-censorship frame and focus their analysis on events with political agendas. This study explores netizens’ discursive practice by focusing the analysis on netizens’ language use in context per se, rather than from a censorship/counter- censorship viewpoint. It adopts a discursive pragmatic approach to examine a ‘mundane’ trending topic regarding a dispute between two public figures rather than ‘major’ events with acute social and political agendas. This study present evidence that Weibo users criticise public figures through indirect discursive strategies, including parody of name, constructed dialogues and rhetorical questions. It also highlights two prominent sentiments in Weibo public spheres during the COVID-19 pandemic – cyber nationalism and binary opposition between China and the rest of the world. The online backlash against Fang demonstrates how easily netizens can change their views towards a certain event.

AB - Previous studies on public opinion expression in communication, political science and discourse analysis are restricted to a censorship-/counter-censorship frame and focus their analysis on events with political agendas. This study explores netizens’ discursive practice by focusing the analysis on netizens’ language use in context per se, rather than from a censorship/counter- censorship viewpoint. It adopts a discursive pragmatic approach to examine a ‘mundane’ trending topic regarding a dispute between two public figures rather than ‘major’ events with acute social and political agendas. This study present evidence that Weibo users criticise public figures through indirect discursive strategies, including parody of name, constructed dialogues and rhetorical questions. It also highlights two prominent sentiments in Weibo public spheres during the COVID-19 pandemic – cyber nationalism and binary opposition between China and the rest of the world. The online backlash against Fang demonstrates how easily netizens can change their views towards a certain event.

KW - COVID-19

KW - criticism discourse

KW - discursive pragmatics

KW - opinion expression

KW - Weibo

U2 - 10.1177/09579265211013116

DO - 10.1177/09579265211013116

M3 - Journal article

VL - 32

SP - 622

EP - 638

JO - Discourse and Society

JF - Discourse and Society

SN - 0957-9265

IS - 5

ER -