A Comparative Study Of Discursive Strategies In Chinese And English Online Conflict Talks

With the advent of the information age,online conflict discourse has received increasing attention.However,existing literature has focused more on linguistic and formal features,and less on the use of conflict discursive strategies in different cultural contexts.Therefore,this study selects conflict segments from Weibo and Twitter as data,and is aimed at identifying the discursive strategies employed by Chinese and English-speaking netizens,and analyzing their pragmatic functions.Additionally,this study compares the similarities and differences in the use of discursive strategies between Chinese and English-speaking netizens,and explores the differences in face concept exhibited in conflicts based on Face Negotiation Theory.The results show that there are five categories of online conflict discursive strategies: mitigation,intensification,argumentation,predication,referential and perspectivation,which involve 20 specific devices.Among them,mitigation and intensification strategies dominate online conflicts.Swearing and irony are the most common expressions used in intensification strategies,indicating that netizens tend to use aggressive and confrontational expressions,directly threatening the other party’s face,which easily leads to the escalation of online conflicts.In addition,argumentation strategies are frequently used,including rhetorical questions,comparisons,questions with answers,etc.,which can support the speaker’s viewpoint.Prediction strategies rank third,including direct negation and partial affirmation,used to express attitude clearly and directly.Lastly,the referential and perspectivation strategies have the lowest frequency of use.Netizens employ the five types of online conflict discursive strategies to achieve multiple pragmatic functions,including maintaining personal face,threatening the other party’s face,releasing negative emotions,strengthening personal viewpoints,constructing personal images,as well as offering humor and entertainment.There are noticeable differences between Chinese and English-speaking netizens when using negative appellations,direct negation,quotations,swearing words,commands,and curse devices.Specifically,negative appellations and swearing in Chinese are more diverse,often related to family and collectives,while taboo language in English often involves human organs.In addition,Chinese netizens usually use rhetorical questions and sarcasm to refute viewpoints,while English-speaking netizens tend to use direct negation.When discussing opinions,Chinese netizens often cite their own or others’ experiences,while English-speaking netizens more often quote news reports and data.Moreover,Chinese netizens more frequently use command and curse strategies to threaten the other party’s negative face,with a frequency close to twice that of English-speaking netizens.The analysis shows that in face negotiation process,Chinese netizens pay more attention to positive face and display a more interdependent self-construal while considering the maintenance of their own and mutual faces.In contrast,English Internet users pay more attention to negative face,and face management often starts from a self-centered perspective,with less consideration for the other party’s face,and exhibits a more independent self-construal.However,it is worth noting that the cultural ideas of East and West are gradually merging and converging under the influence of globalization,and the individualism concept in Eastern culture is becoming increasingly prominent,while the spirit of cooperation is also growing in Western contexts.