Explorations in Internet Pragmatics : Intentionality, Identity, and Interpersonal Interaction

This volume takes the reader on an exploration in the dynamics underlying digital interaction. The chapters investigate the ways in which individuals shape and interpret intentions, construct identities, and engage in interpersonal exchanges. Online platforms from forums and Wikipedia to Periscope, YouTube and WhatsApp are approached with multifaceted qualitative methods. Aside from English, languages studied include Bangla, Finnish, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Lithuanian, and Norwegian. The range of phenomena, platforms and languages shed light on the complex and nuanced ways of communication in digital spaces.

Sanna-Kaisa Tanskanen is Professor in Applied English Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She has published articles and edited volumes on digital discourse and internet pragmatics, including Analyzing Digital Discourses: Between convergence and controversy (with M. Johansson and J. Chovanec, Palgrave Macmillan 2021).

Dr. Lotta Lehti holds the title of docent in digital discourse studies at the University of Turku, Finland. She has studied interaction and rhetoric in social media. Her publications include a definition of the notion of ‘troll’ in Discours de haine et de radicalisation (edited by N. Lorenzi Bailly and C. Moïse, ENS Editions 2023).

Kristin Vold Lexander is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Teacher Education at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her publications focus on multilingualism in digitally mediated interaction and include the research monograph Multilingual Families in a Digital Age. Mediational repertoires and transnational practices (with Jannis Androutsopoulos, Routledge, 2023).

Mikko T. Virtanen (PhD, title of docent) currently works as a university researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has published articles and edited volumes on technology-mediated interaction and critical discourse analysis, including Conversation Analytic Perspectives to Digital Interaction (with A. Koivisto and H. Vepsäläinen, Finnish Literature Society, 2023).

Chaoqun Xie is Chair Professor at the Institute of Discourse Pragmatics, Zhejiang International Studies University, China. He has published articles and edited volumes on (im)politeness and internet pragmatics, including Advancing (Im)politeness Studies (Springer, 2023) and The Philosophy of (Im)politeness (Springer, 2021).