Miglbauer, Marlene and Koller, Veronika (2021) Anger, laughter and frustration : Reactions to House of Commons Brexit debates on an Austrian news forum. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines, 13 (1). pp. 55-84. ISSN 1752-3079
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This paper looks at how readers on an Austrian news website convey humour and emotion in a live text commentary on a House of Commons debate on Brexit. Based on pragmatic theories of humour as well as the affect component of the appraisal system (Martin & White, 2005), the study investigates an example of the new activity type of live streamed videos combined with journalists' posts and readers’ live commentary, thereby further developing previous work in online communication. The pragmatic and functional analysis of nine hours of live text commentary shows that humour is co-constructed through wordplay, parody and metaphor, fostering in-group solidarity. Negative emotions dominate in the commentary and are closely linked to especially contestive humour. Expressions of, and references to, both humour and emotion serve to strengthen the community of practice and to alleviate frustration with the Brexit process. Frequent comparisons of the parliamentary debate with sports events and cinematic entertainment indicate that the debate is perceived as an amusing spectacle, while negative emotions are extended to the United Kingdom as a whole.
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