PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME. Pragmatics and Aizuchi in Japanese Live Stream Chats.

Abstract

Syfte: The purpose of this study is to observe backchanneling, or aizuchi, in a digital context through Japanese live stream chats, to see why aizuchi is so prevalent. By analysing the pragmatic functions and structure it is also of interest to see how the medium both differs from other online environments and its different forms within different streaming formats. Teori: The theory is mainly based on the Horiguchi (1988) aizuchi framework categorising them based on structure and pragmatic intent. Other theory mentions listeners actions in conversation, the purpose of backchannels and theory regarding pragmatic functions. Additionally orthographic perspectives related to online slang and digital communication are drawn from, with focus on how these elements manifest in japanese. Metod: The analysis is conducted by scraping chat logs from two separate live streams, one solo, and one collaboration stream from the same streamer, and sorted based on theoretically established frameworks for aizuchi pragmatic intent and form it takes. Based on the data, an analysis is then made from a sociological, linguistic and cultural point of view. Resultat: Through the analysis we can confirm that first, aizuchi plays a central role in the live stream chats and see remarkable differences to the medium compared to other environments. There is also reason to believe the presented frameworks can be expanded by adding a new “Emote” category. There are also reasons to believe a cultural shift happening in the usage of slang, with kaomoji being replaced by emoticons.