Metadiscourse in and on social media (ESSE2026 seminar)

Session

S12 (2/2) Metadiscourse in and on social media

Sep 2, 2026, 3:00 PM

6. The Metapragmatics of Mock Language

Brittany Bryant (University of Cambridge)

9/2/26, 3:00 PM

This paper examines mock language, a form of linguistic imitation in which speakers reproduce stylised features of other languages, such as the Mock Spanish expression ‘No problemo!’ or scribbles labelled as Chinese script. Framed as ‘non-serious’ (Hill 1993, p. 155) and frequently circulating through memes (Huang 2024), mock language is tolerated despite its (c)overt Othering, which...

9. Anthropomorphism and Parodic Templates of Cat Memes in Social Media: The Pragmatics of Aesthetic Framing

Nami Arimitsu (Toyo University)

9/2/26, 3:30 PM

This paper examines cat memes and anthropomorphized characters in Japanese social media, focusing on how they function as pragmatic resources that soften stance-taking and affective expression. While multimodal meme constructions (Dancygier & Vandelanotte 2017, 2025) and stylistic–humorous effects (Piata 2020) are well documented, the pragmatic mechanism through which speakers delegate their...

7. “I know it’s basic, annoying, and cringe advice”: Metapragmatic negotiation of venting playframes on r/mentalhealth

Eva Triebl (University of Vienna, English Department)

9/2/26, 4:00 PM

Mental-health communities on social media have been critically discussed as sites that may foster epistemic closure and problematic forms of advice or self-understanding. Such concerns often presuppose a model of interaction centered on deliberation and epistemic consensus (Habermas 1981). This study instead conceptualizes these sites as interactional environments in which the norms of...

4. Epistemic Contestation in Online Political Discourse: Metadiscursive Engagement with ‘Fake News’, ‘Disinformation’, and ‘Conspiracy Theory’ in User Comments on US Presidential Elections

Cedric Deschrijver (Ming Chuan University)

9/2/26, 4:30 PM

The concepts ‘fake news’, ‘disinformation’, and ‘conspiracy theory’ are often perceived as denoting discrete and describable categories of problematic content. Yet in public discourse, besides functioning as classifications, these terms also function metadiscursively: their use reflects socially-mediated judgments on discourse, ideologically positions participants in interaction, and signals...