Based on a qualitative analysis of a small sample of blog posts, blog comments, and “History” and “Discussion” pages of Wikipedia entries, this book provides an interesting application of “traditional” discourse analytical categories to Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). It contains a preface, ten chapters (seven on blogs, two on Wikipedia), a note, a glossary, and an index. Each chapter contains a section entitled “What I did,” which provides methodological reflections helpful to the student who might want to replicate the work for a larger project. This is followed by a section that includes conclusions, additional remarks, new questions, and a transition to the next chapter. Chapters close with a section briefly summarizing the content of the works consulted.
Ch. 1, the introduction, answers the “so what” question—why the discourse of blogs and wikis is of interest to the discourse analyst—taking us beyond the usual CMC-related questions. With the help of an illustrative example (a blog post), the chapter includes one section for each of the issues to be discussed in the upcoming chapters: genre, intertextuality, place and time deixis, audience projection, stance and evidentiality, and collaboration or lack thereof in Wikipedia. Ch. 2 discusses the genres of blogs and wikis primarily in terms of (communicative) purpose, also discussing form, context, how these texts are “consumed,” and discourse communities using the genres (bloggers and Wikipedia editors as well as readers). Ch. 3 is concerned with intertextuality in the form of links, including whether and to what texts bloggers link, how a link can be incorporated in a blog text, and the functions fulfilled by links through the generation of implicatures. Chs. 4 and 5 deal with space deixis in a “placeless” medium, and with time deixis in a written (but “time-stamped”) medium. They show how the discursive construction of here and now in blogs contributes to identity construction, justification, and narration.
Ch. 6 introduces Erving Goffman's concept of footing and discusses the projection of audience through addressing or referring to (parts of) it, the functions of questions and imperatives, politeness, and the exploitation of knowledge that is either shared or projected as shared between author and audience. Ch. 7, on stance, subsumes modality, evaluation/attitude, and mitigation or emphasis on an opinion, and further discusses the functions of stance indicators such as modal and semimodal verbs, reported speech and thought, and irony (among others). Ch. 8 covers Chafe's categories of evidentiality—induction, deduction, and hearsay. It discusses verbal resources indicating evidentiality in blogs and their functions, mainly determined by (projected) audience expectations. Chs. 9 and 10 are devoted to Wikipedia, presenting the behind-the-scenes process of changing a Wikipedia article using the “History” and “Discussion” pages. The author investigates the kind of changes a Wikipedia entry goes through, the role of editorial intention for controversial entries, the function of the four “Wikipedia principles” in the argumentation of the discussion pages, and politeness and impoliteness.
The book is written in a witty and accessible style, with analytical categories and technical terms explained as they occur. It could be part of the reading list for courses on (electronic) media within linguistics, sociology, and media studies, and a valuable starting point for both undergraduates and postgraduates just embarking on discourse analytical research in CMC. The final note (160–63) briefly discusses some difficulties with studying blogs and wikis, useful for tutors but also for students.
