In the Footsteps of Graphicons: Tracing Parameters and Pragmatic Strategies in Graphicon Usage
In the Footsteps of Graphicons: Tracing Parameters and Pragmatic Strategies in Graphicon Usage

Summary/Abstract: The textual intercourse in computer-mediated communication is intertwined with graphicons of various forms, gaining new meanings and functions. They are part of the online culture and, specifically, part of the communicative skills in digital environment. In many cases, graphicons are used not as signs of emotion but rather as indication of the illocutionary force of the textual utterances that they accompany. The current work endeavours to reveal the specific aspect of language use where iconoid objects “take over” and substitute textual utterances. The paper also attempts to trace to what extent pragmatics could be applicable in the analysis of the visual representations (i.e. graphicons) embodied in computer-mediated communication as means of communicative acts. The different graphicon forms and the dynamics in the usage carry additional challenge for the interpretation of the “visual” act. However, it is possible to systematically trace a pattern in the occurrence of the graphicons – their use as a complementary to a written statement, and their use as a single communicative act.

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