Naslov
“Woke me up. Bed was shaking and my aquarium water was going wild. Shocking.” Narrativity in online earthquake testimonials

Autori
Podboj, Martina

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Jezik u digitalnom okruženju : knjiga sažetaka : XXXV. međunarodni znanstveni skup, 9. 11. rujna 2021., Filozofski fakultet, Osijek = Language in the digital environment : book of abstracts = 35th International Conference, 9th - 11th September 2021, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Osijek / Mikić Čolić Ana ; Glušac, Maja - Osijek : Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, 2021, 112-113

ISBN
978-953-314-150-3

Skup
35. međunarodni znanstveni skup Hrvatskog društva za primijenjenu lingvistiku: Jezik u digitalnom okruženju

Mjesto i datum
Osijek, Hrvatska, 09.09.2021. - 11.09.2021

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Domaća recenzija

Ključne riječi
sociolinguistics ; earthquake testimonials ; small stories ; narrative analysis ; online storytelling

Sažetak
Narrative analysis, a prominent field of research in sociolinguistics, has recently turned towards narrativity and storytelling within various online contexts that people inhabit through their everyday practices, most notably blogs and social networks (De Fina & Perrino 2017 ; Giaxoglou 2020). Analysis of semiotic processes within these contexts provides beneficial insight into emergent narrative genres and forms of communication in the 21st century. This paper investigates one of these emerging genres: online earthquake testimonials. Namely, in 2020, Croatia was hit by a series of earthquakes, two of which were particularly devastating. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC), there were more than 900 felt earthquakes of various intensity within one year. One way that EMSC gathers data to detect seismic events is through its LastQuake mobile app, which crowdsources information from earthquake witnesses through their reports and comments. In said period, the app was flooded with hundreds of thousands of testimonials, morphing the app into a social network hybrid where, aside from reporting felt earthquakes, people started to share their traumas and fears, but also to crack jokes, argue, troll, and criticize others for reporting minor earthquakes. Here I present a qualitative analysis of narrativity in these testimonials. The data, generously provided by EMSC, consisted of 31156 comments related to 32 selected earthquakes. Comments range from brief referential or evaluative accounts (Scary! ; Užas! ; Glina, dosta je zatreslo ; Only horrible sound, no vibrations), messages of support (Zagreb tak te imam rad!#staystrong❤️❤️❤️ ; DRŽITE SE LJUDI!), to illustrative narrative sequences (I was about to poop when the second one hit. Now I can’t, I am scared as hell), even classified ads (Prodajem Alfa Romeo 156Sw 1.9 jtd, 2003g.), and everything in between. The analysis indicates that these testimonials can be observed as condensed narratives that share many features of “small stories” (Georgakopoulou 2015), while at the same describing and evaluating an extraordinary experience. The variety of comments and their development over time illustrates how online affordances of the app (i.e., the ability to report a felt earthquake and leave a comment) shape online storytelling and affective positioning of earthquake witnesses and app users.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

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