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Article published In: (Im)politeness and Moral Order in Online Interactions:
Edited by Chaoqun Xie
[Internet Pragmatics 1:2] 2018
► pp. 352–378

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The meta-conventionalisation and moral order of e-practices

A Japanese case study

 | Dalian University of Foreign Languages | Hungarian Academy of Sciences
 | Tsuru University
Published online: 10 January 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00016.kad
Abstract
This paper overviews the phenomenon of the meta-conventionalisation of interpersonal practices in the context of computer-mediated communication. The term ‘meta-conventionalisation’ refers to the coding of the conventional interpersonal practices of a particular group, or various groups, in the form of entertainment as films and novels. The word ‘meta’ refers to the fact that such pieces of artwork narrate a set of conventional practices from a quasi-observer point of view, without involving their audience in these practices as language users – in this sense they are different from good practice guides (typically described as ‘netiquette, in the context of e-pragmatics), which assume that readers will internalise the practices they describe. Meta-conventionalisation has been an understudied phenomenon, in spite of representing an important aspect of our daily lives. We illustrate how this phenomenon operates by examining a Japanese case study: a popular novel which features the online interactions of a group of otaku, that is, asocial young people who lock themselves up and interact in highly specific ways.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background: Previous research on meta-conventionalisation & Japanese e-language, and the data studied
    • 2.1Meta-conventionalisation
    • 2.2Research on Japanese e-language
    • 2.3Data
  • 3.Analysis
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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