Self‐presentation and interactional alliances in e‐mail discourse: the style‐ and code‐switches of Greek messages

TLDR

Computer‑mediated communication studies focus on virtual acquaintances but lack integration with sociolinguistic discourse analysis. The study aims to develop a contextualized approach to Greek e‑mail discourse, examining self‑presentation and alliances among well‑acquainted participants. Using interactional sociolinguistics and ethnography of communication, the authors analyzed Greek e‑mail exchanges between familiar interlocutors. Analysis revealed that recurrent code‑switches and style‑shifts constitute a conventionalized e‑mail style that frames symmetrical alignments and intimacy between participants.

Abstract

The recent proliferation of linguistic studies of computer‐mediated communication is marked by an emphasis on communication between virtual acquaintances as well as by a limited cross‐fertilization with current advances in sociolinguistically oriented discourse analysis. The point of departure for this paper is the need for a more inclusive strategy in relevant research, in particular in the form of contextualized approaches to computer‐mediated discourse which will shed light on the diversity and multiplicity of the text‐context relationships in the ever‐growing electronic medium. In addition, the study wishes to redress the balance in relation to the data sources in the volume of research by focusing on e(lectronic)‐mail which is (1) exchanged between people who are well‐acquainted and (2) written in Greek. The paper sets out to explore self‐presentation and alliances in e‐mail discourse, and its framework is informed by interactional sociolinguistics and ethnography of communication. The results of the data analysis bring to the fore certain discourse features which are proposed as forming the conventionalized style of e‐mail and providing the frame for the major contextualization cues in the data. These are realized by certain patterns of recurrent code‐centered choices (code‐switches and style‐shifts) which prove to (re‐)frame footings of symmetrical alignments and intimacy between e‐mail participants.