Academic Scientific JournalsIronic opinions on Polish Reddit: Description and computational methods of analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/bp.2024.1.04Keywords:
irony, opinions, Reddit, evaluation, sentiment analysis, topic modelling, “third space”, corpus linguistics, computational tools in linguisticsAbstract
The paper analyses ironic comments as forms of expressing opinions posted by social media users, specifically on Polish Reddit. The study resorts to Gricean and neo-Gricean theories and typologies adapted to analyse the (syntactically) imperfect, spontaneous and colloquial discourse used online on social media. In this analysis, various corpus and computational tools are deployed to scrutinise types of irony, topics, and functions. The results have clearly shown that the most frequent type of irony used by Reddit authors is lexical irony, the predominant function is jocular irony, and the overall sentiment of the comments is negative. Ironic comments on the Polish Reddit (subreddit ‘/s’) are primarily used to express opinions about institutions, events, things and generally the third party, and rarely to attack an individual. The study also shows how advanced computational tools available for the Polish language can be used in a language analysis of opinionated texts.
Downloads
References
Alba-Juez, Laura, Salvatore Attardo (2014). “The evaluative palette of verbal irony”. In: Geoff Thompson, Laura Alba-Juez (eds.). Evaluation in Context. Amsterdam – Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 93–116.
Alvarez-Pereyre, Michael (2011). “Using film as linguistic specimen: theoretical and practical issues”. In Roberta Piazza, Monika Bednarek, Fabio Rossi (eds.). Telecinematic Discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 47–67.
Androutsopoulos, Jannis (2018). “Online data collection”. In: Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, Gerard Van Herk (eds.). Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications. New York: Routledge, 233–244.
Attardo, Salvatore (2013). “Intentionality and irony”. In: Leonor Ruiz Gurillo, Maria Belén Alvarado Ortega (eds.). Irony and Humor: From Pragmatics to Discourse. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 39–57.
Bączkowska, Anna (2022a). “Explicit and implicit offensiveness in dialogical film discourse in Bridgit Jones films”. International Review of Pragmatics 14/2: 198–225.
Bączkowska, Anna (2022b). ““Hope you have a shit birthday you fat cunt” – cognitive strategies, rhetorical figures and linguistic means used in insulting Tweets”. Forum Filologiczne Ateneum 1/10: 9–25.
Bączkowska, Anna (2023). “Implicit offensiveness from linguistic and computational perspectives: A study of irony and sarcasm”. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 19/2: 353-383.
Bączkowska, Anna, Ljiljana Šarić (2020). “Identity, impoliteness and integration in online immigration discourse”. Forum Filologiczne Ateneum 1 (8): 75-100.
Cutler, Anne (1974). “On saying what you mean without meaning what you say”. In: Michael W. La Galy, Robert Allen Fox, Anthony Bruck (eds.). Papers from the Tenth Regional Meeting, Chicago Linguistic Society. Vol. 10. Chicago, Ill.: CLS, 117–127.
Fowler, Henry W. (1965). Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 2nd ed. New York – Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frege, Gottlob (1960 [1892]). “On sense and reference” In: P. Geach, M. Black (eds.) Translations from the Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 56–78.
Garmendia, Joana (2010). “Irony is critical”. Pragmatics & Cognition 18/2: 397–421.
Gibbs, Raymond W. (2000). “Irony in talk among friends”. Metaphor and Symbol 15/1–2: 5–27.
Gibbs, Raymond W., Jennifer L. O’Brien (1991). “Psychological aspects of irony understanding”. Journal of Pragmatics 16/6: 523–530.
Giora, Rachel (1995). “On irony and negation”. Discourse Processes 19/2: 239–264.
Grice, Herbert Paul (1989). Studies in the Way of Words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Herring, Susan (1996). Computer-Mediated Communication: Linguistic, Social and Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Amsterdam – Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 81–108.
Herring, Susan, Dieter Stein, Tuija Virtanen (2013). “Introduction to the pragmatics of computer-mediated communication”. In: Susan C. Herring, Dieter Stein, and Tuija Virtanen (eds.). Pragmatics of Computer-Mediated Communication. Berlin: De Gruyter, 3–33.
Holdcroft, David (1983). “Irony as a trope, and irony as discourse”. Poetics Today 4/3: 493–511.
Hurford, James, Brendan Heasley (1983). Semantics: A Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ikas, Karin, Gerhard Wagner (eds.) (2009). Communicating in the Third Space. New York: Routledge.
Kapogianni, Eleni (2013). Irony and the Literal Versus Non-literal Distinction: A Typological Approach With Focus on Ironic Implicature Strength. PhD thesis. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
Kapogianni, Eleni (2014). “Differences in use and function of verbal irony between real and fictional discourse: (mis)interpretation and irony blindness”. Humor 27/4: 597-618.
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine (1986). “Ironia jako trop”. Trans. Maria Dramińska-Joczowa. Pamiętnik Literacki 77/1: 289–314.
Klamer, Marian, Francesca Moro (2020). “What is ‘natural’ speech? Comparing free narratives and frog stories in Indonesia”. Language Documentation & Conservation 14: 238–313.
Kumon-Nakamura, Sachi, Sam Glucksberg, Mary Brown (1995). “How about another piece of pie: The allusional pretense theory of discourse irony”. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124/1: 3–21.
Langacker, Ronald (1987). Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lee, Christopher S., Albert N. Katz (1998). “The differential role of ridicule in sarcasm and irony”. Metaphor and Symbol 13/1: 1–15.
Lombart, Erika (2022). L'implicite sur les réseaux sociaux: Entre les lignes des forums de discussion. Paris: L'Harmattan.
Matwick, Keri, Kelsi Matwick (2017). “Self-deprecatory humor on TV cooking shows”. Language & Communication 56: 33-41.
Muecke, D. C. (1973). “The communication of verbal irony”. Journal of Literary Semantics 2/Jahresband 1973: 35–42.
Partington, Alan (2006). The Linguistics of Laughter: A Corpus-Assisted Study of Laughter-Talk. London – New York: Routledge.
Partington, Alan (2007). “Irony and the reversal of evaluation”. Journal of Pragmatics 39: 1547–1569.
Savický, Petr, Jaroslava Hlaváčová (2002). “Measures of word commonness”. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics 9/3: 215–231.
Searle, John R. (1975). “Indirect speech acts”. In: Peter Cole, Jerry L. Morgan (eds.). Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, 59–82.
Seto, Ken-Ichi (1998). “On non-echoic irony”. In: Robyn Carston, Seiji Uchida (eds.). Relevance Theory: Applications and Implications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 239-256.
Sperber, Dan, Deirdre Wilson (1986). Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Strauss, Anselm L., Juliet Corbin (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. London – New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
Vochocová, Lenka, Jana Rosenfeldová (2019). “Ridiculed, but safe: What e-mothers’ discussion on migration tells us about the potential of ‘third spaces’ for the political communication of women”. European Journal of Communication 34/2: 142-158.
