CFP Panel "When the Universal Meets the Local: Social Media, Discourse, and Culture" DNC6

We look forward to proposals for the panel we are convening at DNC6 in Brussels:
"When the Universal Meets the Local: Social Media, Discourse, and Culture in the Global Context"
Please submit your abstract via the conference platform (https://discourseanalysis.net/DNC6) before February 28, 2025, making sure that you specify that your proposal is for this panel.
Do contact us both directly if you have any questions (monika.tosik@uni.lodz.pl ; rossette@parisnanterre.fr)
Description:
The purpose of this panel is to compare social media discourses across languages and cultures. The virtual realm provided by social media platforms instantiates some of the “ever-growing traffic among cultures” (Musolff, MacArthur and Pagani 2015) and the “new linguistic landscapes” that are inherent to globalisation and require “new language and intercultural competences” (Osborne et al. 2016). At the same time, the virtual realm arguably compounds the “deterritorialisation” (Fairclough 2009) and “translocality” (Hepp 2009), which may result in the reconfiguration of identities and discursive practices, along with the emergence of hybrid discourses that transcend geographic and national contexts. For instance, the “selfie” has been described as a new form of “global discourse” (Aslaug Veum 2017: 86). We will set out to identify, on the one hand, various types of such globalised discourses, irrespective of language and/or culture and, on the other hand, examples of diversity of practices and/or communication styles. The panel will address a number of questions. If variety is identified, can such choices be explained by cultural factors, as in the case of culture-specific emotionality patterns (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk 2017; 2020)? To what extent may norms associated with Anglo-American communication culture thrive on social media? Moreover, do certain norms instantiate other types of culture (corporate culture, youth culture, influencer culture)? Finally, this panel is also concerned with usage – with the types of social actors (e.g. politicians, journalists, activists) engaging with social media, the purposes and values attached to their practices, and how these may vary across different cultural zones. Such questions prove particularly pertinent in the European context, notably in light of current EU strategy in relation to digital technologies, equality and inclusivity. They are also relevant to the Global South – Global North dynamics, along with power imbalances, dominant cultural narratives, and the negotiation of alternative voices and practices. Answers to such questions may thus well highlight ways in which social media discourses represent (inter)national (dis)orders and shape collective perceptions, boundaries, and the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion.