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Article published In: Networked Practices of Emotion and Stancetaking in Reactions to Mediatized Events and Crises
Edited by Korina Giaxoglou and Marjut Johansson
[Pragmatics 30:2] 2020
► pp. 179–200

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Affectivity in the #jesuisCharlie Twitter discussion

ORCiD logo with link | University of Turku
 | University of Turku
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 6 March 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.18066.joh
Abstract
The Twitter discussion with the hashtag #jesuisCharlie was a large-scale social media event commenting on the tragic terrorist attack that took place in Paris in 2015. In this paper, we analyze French tweets compiled with language technology methods from a large dataset. Our qualitative approach determines what types of affectivity are expressed. According to our results, first, core emotions are shared, and they are based on the identification with the internet meme je suis Charlie (I am Charlie). In them, participants show their commitment to democratic values and freedom of speech, as well as grief. They build up a we-agency and togetherness between the networked participants. Second, participants disalign from those who do not share the same values or who are a threat to them. Here, the emotions range from irritation and doubt to anger and disgrace, manifesting awayness. They contain protest against how democratic values are violated.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research on #jesuisCharlie and large-scale Twitter discussions
  • 3.Affect in context
    • 3.1Affect and emotions
    • 3.2Affective stance and positioning
  • 4.Data and methods
    • 4.1Large scale data and clustering of tweets
    • 4.2Qualitative analysis
  • 5.We-agency: Shared emotions, values, and identification
    • 5.1Solidarity and grief
  • 6.The limits of group belonging
    • 6.1Shared values and anger against the other
    • 6.2Distancing from group belonging: Doubts and irony
  • 7.Threats to shared values
    • 7.1Irritation, anger, and repulsion
    • 7.2Disgrace and condemnation
  • 8.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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