Mock intimacy

Strategies of engagement in Israeli gossip columns

Bibliographic Data

ID5965572
AuthorsEsther Schely-Newman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Esther Schely‐newman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume6
Issue4
Pages471-488
Publication date2004-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4456 • E-ISSN: 1461-7080
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1461445604046590
OpenAlexW2011480971
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited24

Information about celebrities is abundant in media, including bits of information about marginal events that appear in gossip columns; a media genre not sufficiently studied. This article analyzes Israeli national gossip columns in an attempt to identify stylistic and linguistic ways columnists frame information as confidential and personal. It is argued that the use of discursive strategies creates an illusion of intimacy between the reader and the column, inviting readers to participate in a deciphering game. Columnists engage readers by creative use of pronouns, reported speech, use of coda and lexical inventions intended to criticize and poke fun at celebrities. The analysis traces the origins of this specific discourse in Israeli modes of communication

Cognitive psychology · Gossip · Illusion · Linguistics · Media studies · Personal pronoun · Sociology · Digital Communication and Language · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Media Studies and Communication · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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