Aggression in media-sharing websites in the context of Greek political/parliamentary discourse in the years of the economic crisis

Abstract

Abstract In the context of the Greek economic crisis during the years 2009–2019, the aim of the present study is to discuss language aggression and derogatory forms of speech attested in user polylogues commenting on instances of parliamentary discourse uploaded to computer mediated communication networks. Within the framework of (im)politeness research (Culpeper 2005, 2011; Garcés-Conejos Blitvich 2010a; Haugh 2013; Lorenzo-Dus, et al. 2011; Mitchell and Haugh 2015), we investigate the correlation between impoliteness and abusive verbal discourse in both domains, i.e. parliamentary sittings and social media commentary. We explore their potential to establish a common ground in viewing political issues and determining ideological polarizations. We also attempt a preliminary analysis of swear words and derogatory references to Greek political personnel and their instrumentalisation for the division of the readership into those who support and those who oppose different political agendas.