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Title: (S)Talking women: portrayal of females in online discourse of social media in Albania 

 

Vol. 11(2), 2023, pp. 130-147. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46687/YDLM9850.  

 

Author: Eriola Qafzezi

About the author: Dr. Eriola Qafzezi is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Education and Philology at Fan S. Noli University, Korça, Albania, where she has been teaching since the year 2005. From 2001 to 2005 she completed Bachelor Studies, to be followed by Master Studies, completed in 2011, and Doctoral Studies in 2014. She has specialized in translation of children literature. She currently teaches Translation, Text Analysis, Theory of Translation, Text Typology and Translation, and ESP. Dr. Qafzezi’s research interests relate to translation, linguistics, discourse studies, media studies, technology and education, online teaching and learning, etc. As part of her ongoing research, E. Qafzezi has published several papers that focus on the interrelationship of language and culture, translation of children’s literature, intertextuality, media discourse, online teaching and learning, etc.

e-mail: eqafzezi@unkorce.edu.al                                                     

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3874-8359  

Author: Fabiola Kadi

About the author: Dr. Fabiola Kadi is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Education and Philology at Fan S. Noli University, Korça, Albania, where she teaches French Literature, French Civilization, Stylistics, Text Analysis, and Variants of French Language. She has published several papers on translation of religious literature and analysis of poetic text. She is currently involved in translation and editing of French literature into Albanian and vice versa. Her research interests relate to literature, translation of literature, discourse, etc.                  

e-mail: fkadi@unkorce.edu.al                                                                  

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4922-9059  

 

Link: https://silc.fhn-shu.com/issues/2023-2/SILC_2023_Vol_11_Issue_2_130-147_18.pdf

Citation (APA style): Qafzezi, E., & Kadi, F. (2023). (S)Talking women: portrayal of females in online discourse of social media in Albania. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, and FLT, 11(2), 130-147. https://doi.org/10.46687/YDLM9850.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to explore Albanian social media discussion threads, prioritizing the way women are portrayed. The development of social media discourse has been empowered through the increasing influence of digital media, permeating all areas of life recently. ‘Privacy is no longer a social norm’, and intentional abuse of media-derived power has led to malicious intentions infiltrating online social media discourse, threatening loyal and straightforward communication, and giving rise to denigration, negativity, and dismay. Based on the current view of scholars in the field of language and digital communication that text-based studies need to move forward by incorporating other modes of communication and the fact that all human communication is, after all, multimodal, we intend to bring examples to illustrate the choice of language and images by Albanians in online social media in reaction to current popular events. The common thread that unites all examples is related to the depiction of females, unfortunately, in derogatory terms, and gendered culpability. It is hoped that the paper will raise awareness about such dominating problematic approaches toward females in Albania, as manifested in the language used. 

Keywords: social media, Albanian, female, derogatory, online discourse.

 

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