The Discourse of Blogs and Wikis

by Greg Myers, Ken Hyland

Overview

Blogs and Wikis have not been with us for long, but have made a huge impact on society.  Wikipedia is the best known exemplar of the wiki, a collaborative site that leads to a single text claimed by no-one; blogs, or web-logs, have exploded into the mainstream through novelisations, film adaptations and have gathered huge followings. Blogs and wikis also serve to provide a coherent basis for a discourse analysis of specific web language. 

What makes these forms distinctive as genres, and what ramifications does the technology have on the language?  Myers looks at how blogs and wikis:
*allow for easier than ever publication
*can claim to challenge institutional hierarchies
*provide alternate perspectives on events
*exemplify globalization
*challenge demarcations between the personal and the public
*construct new communities and more

Drawing on a wide range of popular blogs and wikis, the book works alongside an author blog that contains regularly updated links, references and a glossary.  An essential textbook for upper level undergraduates on linguistics and language studies courses, it elucidates, informs and offers insights into a major new type of discourse. This coursebook will include a companion website.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847064141
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/11/2010
Series:	Continuum Discourse , #8
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ken Hyland is Professor of Applied Linguistics in Education at the University of East Anglia, UK.

Table of Contents

Preface 1. Introduction: A Linguist in the Blogosphere 2 . Genre: What is a Blog? What is a Wiki? 3. Text: What's in a Link? 4. Spaces: Where is the Blogger? 5. Time: Writing for the Moment 6. Audience: Who Reads this Stuff? 7. Opinions: Where Do I Stand? 8. Evidence: How Do We Know? 9. Facts: How Wikipedia Grows 10. Collaboration: Revision and Interaction in Wikipedia 11. Studying Blogs and Wikis: Where Do I Start? Glossary References Links Index