Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’
In this study, we explore how superstitions and blame are weaved in the linguistic constructions and representations of village people, the infamous mystic villains. Using Cultural Discourse Analysis (CuDA), we examine selected social media tweets and posts in which netizens deployed a mix of lingu...
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| Format: | Article |
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University of Warsaw Press
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Studies in African Languages and Cultures |
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| Online Access: | https://salc.uw.edu.pl/index.php/SALC/article/view/425 |
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| author | Ebuka Elias Igwebuike Lily Chimuanya Anya Egwu |
| author_facet | Ebuka Elias Igwebuike Lily Chimuanya Anya Egwu |
| author_sort | Ebuka Elias Igwebuike |
| collection | DOAJ |
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In this study, we explore how superstitions and blame are weaved in the linguistic constructions and representations of village people, the infamous mystic villains. Using Cultural Discourse Analysis (CuDA), we examine selected social media tweets and posts in which netizens deployed a mix of linguistic humour, traditional African belief system, and quasi-religious sensibilities to project irrational belief in supernatural influences of village people. We show how discursive conceptualisations such as evilification, enemification, remote controlling and monitoring are used superstitiously to blame the imaginary village people for individual and personal adversities of the unfortunates. The paper underscores how peculiar Nigerian socio-religiosity and shared socio-cultural background shape the instantiation of fears and institution of potency of vicious supernatural powers.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bc4e38ce9a7342189bfdb7d6fc520cf6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2545-2134 2657-4187 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Warsaw Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studies in African Languages and Cultures |
| spelling | doaj-art-bc4e38ce9a7342189bfdb7d6fc520cf62024-12-15T15:32:34ZdeuUniversity of Warsaw PressStudies in African Languages and Cultures2545-21342657-41872024-12-015810.32690/SALC58.7Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’Ebuka Elias IgwebuikeLily Chimuanya0Anya Egwu1Covenant UniversityUniversity of Nigeria, Nssuka In this study, we explore how superstitions and blame are weaved in the linguistic constructions and representations of village people, the infamous mystic villains. Using Cultural Discourse Analysis (CuDA), we examine selected social media tweets and posts in which netizens deployed a mix of linguistic humour, traditional African belief system, and quasi-religious sensibilities to project irrational belief in supernatural influences of village people. We show how discursive conceptualisations such as evilification, enemification, remote controlling and monitoring are used superstitiously to blame the imaginary village people for individual and personal adversities of the unfortunates. The paper underscores how peculiar Nigerian socio-religiosity and shared socio-cultural background shape the instantiation of fears and institution of potency of vicious supernatural powers. https://salc.uw.edu.pl/index.php/SALC/article/view/425Superstitionblame gamevillage peoplesocial mediadiscursive constructionsNigerian religiosity |
| spellingShingle | Ebuka Elias Igwebuike Lily Chimuanya Anya Egwu Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’ Studies in African Languages and Cultures Superstition blame game village people social media discursive constructions Nigerian religiosity |
| title | Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’ |
| title_full | Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’ |
| title_fullStr | Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’ |
| title_short | Going superstitious and blaming the invisible ‘other’: A linguistic appraisal of social media posts on ‘Village People’ |
| title_sort | going superstitious and blaming the invisible other a linguistic appraisal of social media posts on village people |
| topic | Superstition blame game village people social media discursive constructions Nigerian religiosity |
| url | https://salc.uw.edu.pl/index.php/SALC/article/view/425 |
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