„Et fehlt dä Ruhrpott, verstehste!“. Dialekt als Stance-Ressource in der digitalen Interaktion

Abstract

This article sheds light on the functionality of dialect performance in digital writing on Instagram. Within an interactional-sociolinguistic framework, two Instagram posts (by aroundtheword; responsible: ZDF) which deal with the German-speaking dialect area including follow-up communication (1,068 comments) are analysed. The main research questions guiding this article are (1) for what specific purpose dialect is used in the analysed Instagram comments and (2) which functional patterns of dialect use can be identified in this form of digital interaction. The corpus study presented follows a mixed methods approach and thus integrates descriptive quantitative and qualitative analyses. In theoretical and methodological terms, the study is based on widely accepted models of stance research (Du Bois 2007) as well as media and internet linguistic concepts (Beißwenger 2020). From this theoretical perspective, Instagram communication is investigated as a (typical) format of a digital and interaction-orientated stance practice. The present study provides insights into the stance potential of dialect performance: it not only serves as a marker of authenticity and a resource for identity construction (referring to regionality) but is also an essential means of community building (as part of alignment) and epistemic-evidential positioning.