Building Narrative Capacity in Mediatized Times: A Study of KOD Social Movement in Poland

Barbara Brodzińska-Mirowska, Łukasz Wojtkowski

Abstract


This paper focuses on the development of the narrative capacities of KOD social movement in Poland that were shaped in the mediatization process. Firstly, we assume that the analysis of a discursive character of movements’ political and media operations can expose how KOD constructs its narration and how the media deconstructs it. Secondly, since KOD operates in a highly media saturated environment, the study of how the movement appropriates communication technologies and uses them in everyday practices is essential. We conduct the research within the framework of critical discourse studies (CDS) where we combine interviews (IDIs) with the movement’s leaders and a content analysis of organized media outlets to collect textual data. The data enabled us to track how KOD social movement builds its narrative capacity in the process of mediatization, and in particular, how KOD’s narrative capacity is manifested in the movement’s discursive practices, and how media deconstructed KOD’s narrative capacity. The research showed that KOD representatives deploy the narrative frame of the significant role of the ICT and the media in the functioning of the movement. As the results indicate, discursive practices aimed at building narrative capacity were oriented towards adaptation to functioning in a mediatized communication environment. However, the results of our research showed that KOD could be characterized as a fragile movement and failed to build a stable narrative capacity.


Keywords


narrative capacity; mediatization; fragile social movement; social media; critical discourse analysis (CDA); qualitative research

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/ms.2021.5.19-36
Date of publication: 2022-06-07 09:57:07
Date of submission: 2021-11-09 11:59:24


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