Identity Construction Portrayed from Linguistic Features on Justin Bieber’s Instagram Fan Talks
Keywords:
fan talk, Identity construction, Justin Bieber, linguistic features
Abstract
Being a fan is another way of gaining an identity, and the fans' identity can be analyzed from the linguistic features used in fan talks. The present study aims to identify any identities detected from the fans’ linguistic repertoires when admiring their idols. This qualitative study is conducted by collecting the fan talks in Justin Bieber fan groups on Instagram. The use of social media promotes the increasing number of fans and encourages them to declare their affection textually. The obtained data is analyzed based on three elements of linguistic units; words, themes, and concepts. After obtaining the analysis from the elements of units, the study then shapes the relevant categories constructing the fans’ identities. The result reveals that those fans are identified with sisterhoods, sympathy, and support, for their idol, Justin Bieber, and for each other. Those natures of being fans eventually compose them into dedicated and intimate fans. Furthermore, those fans are also excellent at expressing sympathy and jokes using translingual practice. Translingual practice is also attached in the talks as those fan use varieties of English, Bahasa Indonesia, and heritage languages.
References
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Zappavigna, M. (2014). Enacting identity in microblogging through ambient affiliation. Discourse and Communication, 8(2), 209-228.
Berg, J. H., & Archer, R. L. (1983). The disclosure-liking relationship. Human Communication Research, 10, 269-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1983.tb00016.x
Black, R.W. (2008). Adolescents and online fan fiction, New York: Peter Lang.
Blommaert, J., & Varis, P. (2013). Life projects. Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies, 58.
Booth, P. (2010). Digital fandom: New media studies, New York: Peter Lang.
Chastagner, C. (2014). Mark Duffett, ed., Popular Music Fandom. Identities, Roles and Practices, Transatlantica, 2. http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/7203 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/transatlantica.7203
Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2015). Translanguaging and identity in educational settings. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 20-35. DOI:10.1017/S0267190514000233
Duffett, M, ed. (2014). Popular Music Fandom. Identities, Roles and Practices, London: Routledge.
Erlingsson, C., & Brysiewicz, P. (2017) A hands-on guide to doing content analysis. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2017.08.001.
Francis, J. (2012). What’s so queer about boys bonking?: A queer analysis of gender normativity and homophobia in Japanese Boys’ Love Manga. (Master Thesis, University of London).
Grandío-Pérez, M. M. (2016). Transmedia in university teaching. Analysis of media education subjects in Spain (2012-2013). Palabra Clave, 19(1), 85-104. https://www.doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2016.19.1.4
Gray, J., Sandvoss, C., & Harrington, C.L. (2007). Fandom: identities and communities in a mediated world, New York: NYU Press.
Hall, K. (2013). Commentary I: ‘It’s a hijra!’ Queer linguistics revisited. Discourse & Society, 24, 634 - 642.
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. Culture Media Languange, 128–138. http://www.hu.mtu. edu/~jdslack/readings/CSReadings/Hall_Encoding-n-Decoding.pdf
Hills, M. (2013). Fiske’s ‘textual productivity’ and digital fandom: Web 2.0 democratization versus fan distinction?. Participations, 10(1), 130–153.
http://www.participations.org/Volume%2010/Issue%201/9%20Hills%2010.1.pdf
Hodkinson, P., & Deicke, W. (2007). Youth cultures: Scenes, subcultures and tribes. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, H. (2017). Fan. In L. Ouellette & J. Gray (Eds.), Keywords for me dia studies (pp. 65–67), New York: New York University Press.
Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New York University Press, New York.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans and participation culture, New York: Routledge.
Jensen, J. (1992). Fandom as pathology: The consequences of characterization. In L. Lewis (Ed.), The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media, London: Routledge.
http://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=uBACZl2rNT8C&oi=fnd&pg=
PA9&dq=Fandom+as+pathology&ots=ivKWly-MVp&sig
Jeewa Z, Wade, J.P. (2015). Playing with identity: Fan role playing on Twitter. Alternation 22(2):216–240.
Jorgensen, M. & Phillips, L. (2002). Discourse analysis as theory and method. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Kim. Y. (2021). (2021, August 5). K-pop sets another record on Twitter. Twitter Blog. https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/insights/2021/kpop-sets-another-record-on-twitter-with-7-billion-tweets-in-a-year
Kim. Y. (2021). (2021, July 30). Negara dengan jumlah fans K-pop terbanyak di Twitter. Twitter Blog. https://blog.twitter.com/in_id/topics/insights/2021/kpop-kembali-cetak-rekor-dengan-7-5-milyar-tweet
Lanza, E., & Woldemariam, H. (2014). Indexing modernity: English and branding in the linguistic landscape of Addis Ababa. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18, 491 - 506.
Lewis. L. A. (1992). The adoring audience: Fan culture and popular media. London: Routledge.
Lozano, J., Plaza, J. F. & Sánchez, M. (2020). An approach to defining the identity of a media fan. Palabra Clave, 23(2). https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2020.23.2.3
Mazur, A. (2018). Dubious progeny of "Sir Thaddeus". About a certain jubilee article. Rocznik Towarzystwa Literackiego Im. A. Mickiewicza, 11, 85–106. http://doi.org/10.18318/WIEKXIX.2018.5
McDougall, J. (2012). Media Studies: The basics, New York: Routledge.
Montaruli, E., Bourhis, R.Y. & Azurmendi, M. J. (2011), Identity, language, and ethnic relations in the bilingual autonomous communities of Spain. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 15: 94-121. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2010.00474.x
Riedel, L. A. (2020). K-Pop as a linguistic phenomenon, Diggit Magazine. https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/k-pop-linguistic-phenomenon.
Smutradontri, P., & Gadavanij, S. (2020). Fandom and identity construction: an analysis of Thai fans’ engagement with Twitter. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7, 1-13.
Stroud, C., & Mpendukana, S. (2009). Towards a material ethnography of linguistic landscape: Multilingualism, mobility, and space in a South African township. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 13, 363–386.
Sugiharto, S. (2013). Critical Multiculturalism and the Politics of Identity in Academic Writing. K@ta: A Biannual Publication on the study of language and literature, 15, 19-24.
Zappavigna, M. (2014). Enacting identity in microblogging through ambient affiliation. Discourse and Communication, 8(2), 209-228.
Published
2022-11-25
How to Cite
Matiini, G. (2022). Identity Construction Portrayed from Linguistic Features on Justin Bieber’s Instagram Fan Talks. Indonesian Journal of EFL and Linguistics, 7(2), 315-329. https://doi.org/10.21462/ijefl.v7i2.521
Section
Articles
