DISCURSIVE LANGUAGE PERSONALITY OF VIRTUAL FAN COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Abstract

The given article provides an analysis of collective discursive personalities of members of Internet fan communities which are devoted to performers working in two different music styles – pop and metal. Such kind of communicative interaction forms a unique discourse – the discourse of music fan Internet community which combines features of both subcultural group discourse (as the reason which led to the formation of the very fan community) and Internet discourse itself (as the environment for the given discourse). Through the use of content analysis method the authors find out both typical and specific psychological and cognitive features which fan community members implement during communication in the given discourse. These features include different ways of perception (visual vs. audial), major mindsets, emotionality level, etc. The main way of perception which is represented in the texts of conversations between pop music fan community members turns to be a visual one, while metal music fans are likely to have the audial way of perception as a major one. In the given discourse these features are represented by word groups of different perception semantics which are used by community members and belong to different parts of speech. The analysis of conversations in both fan groups demonstrates that concrete thinking could be characterized as a main way of thinking for fans of two aforementioned music styles. It is represented within the vocabulary and grammatical features used. Conversations between music fans of both types could be also characterized by a heightened emotionality level which directly depends on the specific character of music fanaticism. This specific character is based on over-positive attitude to favourite artists. The special attention is given to the system of language means which help to form general emotional background during communication process.