Emotionsausdrucksmittel auf der textuellen Ebene in ausgewählten polnischen Weblogeinträgen

Abstract

Blogs belong to a special computer communication genre combining a website with a discussion forum. Because posts are not moderated, which means that blogosphere users are free to say whatever they want, this form of communication is conducive to the spontaneous expression of emotions. In the article, the author carries out a qualitative analysis of the textual means of expressing emotions in selected posts from a Polish blog written by a heterosexual couple. The bloggers use the following stylistic devices: replacing constituent parts (substitution), adding linguistic elements (adjunction), leaving out syntactic units (elimination), and changing the order of syntactic units (permutation). The author tries to answer two questions: what linguistic devices and why those ones are used by women and men in blogs to express emotions. The analysis indicates that the array of linguistic devices used is quite diverse. Rethorical questions, swear words, anaphoras, and ironic similes can be found in posts written by representatives of both genders. The use of emphasis to enhance the expression of emotions is characteristic of the female blogger. In the male blogger’s posts, one can come across swear words, colloquialisms, and irony. An analysis of a greater number of posts written by various bloggers would make it possible to investigate more thoroughly the language of genders and the way women and men express themselves in internet discourse. An examination of the manner in which women and men communicate in the digital world what they feel may contribute to gaining a better understanding of their use of language and their style.

Keywords

• blog
• emotions
• blogger
• textual level
• language of genders