Power In Internet Chat

Power is an important issue in the area of critical discourse analysis. Based on the basic ideas on discourse and power from the critical discourse analysts represented by Norman Fairclough, this thesis studies the construction of power in Internet chat through the conversation analysis of the collected data.To start with, this thesis reviews the study of Internet chat, finding that the research of Internet chat put emphasis on the freedom and equality which result from the anonymity and virtuality of cyberspace, but ignored the power relations in online environments. This thesis also reviews the power study, finding that power in institutional settings has been much researched like courtroom trials, doctor-patient interactions, classroom discourse, news interviews and job interviews. Power relations in different institutional settings are different, with some formal and others informal. However, institutional discourse shares the similarity that participants in institutional settings play the institutional roles for institutional tasks. For example, the fundamental institutional task in news interview is the communication of information or opinions of the public figures for the benefit of the audience.Everyday conversation is different from institutional discourse in that participants need not play the institutional roles. However, asymmetry exists in everyday conversation. Power relations in everyday conversation have not been researched deeply and comprehensively. Also few researchers have ever touched on the power relations in Internet chat.Power is defined as "control over others" in my paper. Power in Internet chat has the following three characteristics. Firstly, power in Internet chat is constructive, but not granted. Power can be constructed in the sense that power can be gained through the use of powerful language in the process of interaction. Secondly, the successful construction of power needs the co-operation of both sides. A potentially controlling action may fail to realize the control over the other if the other does notco-operate. Thirdly, power is multi-dimensionally constructed in Internet chat.This paper approaches the construction of power from two angles: question-response interaction and topic control.In the aspect of question-response interaction, this thesis focuses on the questions that seek private information about the chatters. Power relations are studied in different strategies of questioning, answering and follow-up moves. Firstly, Strategies of questioning include avoiding being refused, repeating asking the same question in different ways, providing personal information about oneself before asking the other, and showing politeness in questioning. If a questioner successfully gets to know the information about the other through questioning, the questioner has power over the answerer. However, if the answerer does not comply with the questioner, the questioner fails to get to know the information, the questioner does not realize the control over the answerer. Secondly, strategies of answering include providing inadequate information, delaying answering, providing uncertain information, refusing to answer the question indirectly and providing extra information. Thirdly, follow-up moves include the use of emoticons and interjections, assessments on the answerers and the opinions of the questioners. Follow-up moves occur more frequently in Internet chat because of the lack of non-verbal cues.Topic is an important indicator of power for it controls the direction of interaction. In the respect of topic control, power relations in four kinds of topic performances are the focus of my research-topic initiation, topic sustaining, topic re-introduction and topic discontinuation.Topic initiation often occurs at the beginning of conversation when both participants exchange information. At this stage, topic initiation is usually an individual action. Topics are often initiated in the form of questions. In terms of the amount of information, if participant A gets...