Abstract
This chapter uses positioning analysis to explore discursive strategies used by members of a former online forum for British settlers in the Ariège. Using Wenger’s (1998, Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) community of practice as a theoretical lens, the initial theme analysis of nine topic threads demonstrates how the joint enterprise of the forum, the mutual engagement within the support and networking practices, and the common repertoire afforded members a resource for identity negotiation and strategic positioning. Harré’s (2012, Positioning theory: Moral dimensions of social-cultural psychology. In: Valsiner J. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of culture and psychology. Oxford University Press, Oxford) concept of reciprocal rights and duties within positioning enhances our understanding of how certain expectations constitute inherent norms that reflect the local moral landscape of the forum. The orientation to wider moral issues also shapes forum interactions as the wider ideological positioning contradicts the supportive purpose of the forum.
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Lawson, M. (2016). Life in the Ariège, in English: The Online Forum. In: Identity, Ideology and Positioning in Discourses of Lifestyle Migration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33566-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33566-7_4
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