‘You wanted to know about expat life’: Authenticating identity in blogs about transnational relocation
-
Linda Walz
Linda Walz has received her PhD on identity construction in expatriate blogs from the University of Leeds. She is a Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of Communication at Leeds Trinity University. Her main research interests are identity, discourse analysis, membership categorization analysis and (privileged) migration.
Abstract
Expatriate blogs are personal websites in which individuals share their experiences of relocation and life in a different country, not solely for the benefit of their readers but also for their own benefit. As such, they constitute sites of identity construction in phases of personal transition, afforded by the linear nature of blogging. This paper illustrates how expatriate bloggers discursively authenticate identity. Drawing on tactics of intersubjectivity, the analysis explores twelve personal blogs by Anglophone foreign nationals who have moved to England. Authentication is achieved, firstly, through displaying expertise pertaining to life abroad. This at the same time legitimizes expatriates’ sharing of the everyday experiences, and indeed they portray themselves as providing deep insights and unadorned accounts. Additionally, identity is authenticated through discourses of personal fulfillment. The authentication of expatriate identity is thus closely linked to bloggers’ legitimizing of their own contributions. These findings add to research on discursive identity construction in personal negotiations of relatively privileged migration. They further make a theoretical contribution to the tactics of intersubjectivity as well as more generally to explorations of identity and authentication in online environments.
About the author
Linda Walz has received her PhD on identity construction in expatriate blogs from the University of Leeds. She is a Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of Communication at Leeds Trinity University. Her main research interests are identity, discourse analysis, membership categorization analysis and (privileged) migration.
Appendix
Contextualizing information on the participants.
| Pseudonym and origin | Relocation background and typical blogging features |
|---|---|
| Sarah | Sarah relocates with her husband, two children and a dog. She avoids revealing the names or pictures of her family. |
| US | |
| Claire | Claire relocates to live with an Englishman whom she has met online. She includes many pictures of herself and her partner in her posts. |
| US | |
| Kim | Kim relocates to live with her English boyfriend and pursue a postgraduate degree. She uses a pseudonym to refer to her partner. |
| US | |
| Aubrey | Aubrey relocates because she seeks a change and is recruited for a job. Her posts often include links to other websites, such as news articles. She reveals little personal information. |
| US | |
| Emily | Emily relocates with her husband and daughter on an assignment of her husband’s employer. They move from Japan after a three-year placement. Her posts are detailed but use pseudonyms. |
| Australia | |
| Jessica | Jessica relocates with her husband, two dogs and a cat when her husband is reassigned. She shares her name and address and her posts include many pictures of herself and her husband on trips away. |
| US | |
| Megan | Megan relocates with her boyfriend and their cats. Her partner has |
| US | accepted a transnational assignment, and she also finds employment. She posts pictures, but not often of herself. |
| Ruth US | Ruth relocates with her English husband and two children to experience life in England. Her husband finds employment upon settling in. She shares pictures, but rarely of herself or her family. |
| Chloe | Chloe relocates to England with her two cats to pursue a doctoral degree. She frequently explores cultural aspects of her surroundings. Her posts include many GIFs. |
| US | |
| Leah | Leah relocates to pursue postgraduate study, visiting her English boyfriend in another city. She posts especially frequently whilst preparing for her move. Her later posts are quite detailed. |
| US | |
| David | David relocates for an ‘Overseas Experience’ and to explore Europe. He finds employment subsequent to relocation and moves to a different city. He posts pictures, but not of himself. |
| New Zealand | |
| Abigail | Abigail relocates and subsequently finds employment. Her posts are short and usually include a picture of her environment. She reveals little personal information. |
| US |
References
Brake, David R. 2012. Who do they think they’re talking to? Framings of the audience by social media users. International Journal of Communication 6. 1056–1076.Suche in Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary. 2003. Sociolinguistic nostalgia and the authentication of identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7(3). 398–416.10.1111/1467-9481.00232Suche in Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary & Kira Hall. 2004a. Language and identity. In Alessandro Duranti (ed.), A companion to linguistic anthropology, 369–394. Oxford: Blackwell.10.1002/9780470996522.ch16Suche in Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary & Kira Hall. 2004b. Theorizing identity in language and sexuality research. Language in Society 33. 469–515.10.1017/S0047404504334020Suche in Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary & Kira Hall. 2005. Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies 7(4–5). 585–614.10.1177/1461445605054407Suche in Google Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary & Kira Hall. 2010. Locating identity in language. In Carmen Llamas & Dominic Watt (eds.), Language and identities, 18–28. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Cappelli, Gloria. 2008. Expats’ talk: Humour and irony in an expatriate’s travel blog. Textus 21(1). 9–26.Suche in Google Scholar
Coupland, Nikolas. 2003. Sociolinguistic authenticities. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7(3). 417–431.10.1111/1467-9481.00233Suche in Google Scholar
Croucher, Sheila. 2012. Privileged mobility in an age of globality. Societies 2. 1–13.10.3390/soc2010001Suche in Google Scholar
Davies, Bethan L. 2013a. Constructions of expertise and authority on a language-themed discussion forum: Linguists, linguistics and the public. In Bethan L. Davies & Clive Upton (eds.), Analysing twenty-first century British English: Conceptual and methodological aspects of the ‘Voices’ project, 26–47. Abingdon: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar
Davies, Julia. 2013b. Discourse and computer-mediated communication. In Ken Hyland & Brian Paltridge (eds.), The Bloomsbury companion to discourse analysis, 228–243. London: Bloomsbury.Suche in Google Scholar
Frank-Job, Barbara & Bettina Kluge. 2012. Die kooperative Konstruktion von Identitäten im virtuellen Kommunikationsraum des Web 2.0: Blogs zum Thema Migration nach Québec. In Annette Gerstenberg, Claudia Polzin-Haumann & Dietmar Osthus (eds.), Sprache und Öffentlichkeit in realen und virtuellen Räumen, 47–78. Bonn: Romanistischer Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Gertsen, Martine C. & Anne-Marie Søderberg. 2010. Expatriate stories about cultural encounters: A narrative approach to cultural learning processes in multinational companies. Scandinavian Journal of Management 26(3). 248–257.10.1016/j.scaman.2010.06.003Suche in Google Scholar
Harrison, Sandra & Julie Barlow. 2009. Politeness strategies and advice-giving in an online arthritis workshop. Journal of Politeness Research 5(1). 93–111.10.1515/JPLR.2009.006Suche in Google Scholar
Jones, Lucy. 2019. Discourses of transnormativity in vloggers’ identity construction. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 256. 85–101.10.1515/ijsl-2018-2013Suche in Google Scholar
Kluge, Bettina. 2011. „Mi vida en otro lado“: Identitätskonstitution in den Blogs lateinamerikanischer Migrantinnen und Migranten in Québec. In Eva Gugenberger & Kathrin Sartingen (eds.), Hybridität, Transkulturalität, Kreolisierung: Innovation und Wandel in Kultur, Sprache und Literatur Lateinamerikas, 193–219. Wien: LIT-Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Leonard, Pauline. 2010. Expatriate identities in postcolonial organizations: Working whiteness. Farnham: Ashgate.Suche in Google Scholar
Locher, Miriam A. 2006. Advice online: Advice-giving in an American internet health column. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.149Suche in Google Scholar
Markham, Annette & Elizabeth Buchanan. 2012. Ethical decision-making and internet research: Recommendations from the AoIR ethics working committee. http://aoir.org/reports/ethics2.pdf (accessed 21 March 2018).Suche in Google Scholar
Myers, Greg. 2010. Discourse of blogs and wikis. London: Continuum.Suche in Google Scholar
Nardon, Luciara, Kathryn Aten & Daniel Gulanowski. 2015. Expatriate adjustment in the digital age: The co-creation of online social support resources through blogging. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 47. 41–55.10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.04.001Suche in Google Scholar
Page, Ruth E. 2011. Blogging on the body: Gender and narrative. In Ruth E. Page & Bronwen Thomas (eds.), New narratives: Stories and storytelling in the digital age, 220–238. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.10.2307/j.ctt1df4h49.17Suche in Google Scholar
Page, Ruth E. 2012. Stories and social media: Identities and interaction. Abingdon: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar
Puschmann, Cornelius. 2013. Blogging. In Susan C. Herring, Dieter Stein & Tuija Virtanen (eds.), Pragmatics of computer-mediated communication, 83–108. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110214468.83Suche in Google Scholar
Richardson, Kay. 2001. Broadcast political talk: A discourse of licensed inauthenticity? The Communication Review 4(4). 481–498.10.1080/10714420109359481Suche in Google Scholar
Snee, Helene. 2014. A cosmopolitan journey? Difference, distinction and identity work in gap year travel. Farnham: Ashgate.Suche in Google Scholar
Thornborrow, Joanna. 2001. Authenticating talk: Building public identities in audience participation broadcasting. Discourse Studies 3(4). 459–479.10.1177/1461445601003004008Suche in Google Scholar
Turkle, Sherry. 1995. Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.Suche in Google Scholar
Vásquez, Camilla. 2014. The discourse of online consumer reviews. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Suche in Google Scholar
West, Laura E. 2013. Facebook sharing: A sociolinguistic analysis of computer-mediated storytelling. Discourse, Context & Media 2(1). 1–13.10.1016/j.dcm.2012.12.002Suche in Google Scholar
Widdicombe, Sue & Rob Wooffitt. 1990. ‘Being’ versus ‘doing’ punk: On achieving authenticity as a member. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 9(4). 257–277.10.1177/0261927X9094003Suche in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Legal constraints and judicial discretion in sentencing practice: Appraisal analysis of the sentencing remarks for Terri Palmer
- Reproduced, reinterpreted, lost: Trajectories of scientific knowledge across contexts
- Third turn position in British election phone-in conversations
- “To have or not to have a boyfriend?” Large identities in small stories
- ‘You wanted to know about expat life’: Authenticating identity in blogs about transnational relocation
- Language teachers’ narratives of professional experience in online class discussions
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Legal constraints and judicial discretion in sentencing practice: Appraisal analysis of the sentencing remarks for Terri Palmer
- Reproduced, reinterpreted, lost: Trajectories of scientific knowledge across contexts
- Third turn position in British election phone-in conversations
- “To have or not to have a boyfriend?” Large identities in small stories
- ‘You wanted to know about expat life’: Authenticating identity in blogs about transnational relocation
- Language teachers’ narratives of professional experience in online class discussions
