In the interview, as exemplified by this quotation, Paul Smith positions himself against the wealth of information provided by contemporary communications, or what will be referred to in this book as ânew media â. The kind of changes that he alludes to will be a recurrent theme throughout this book. What also interests me about this quotation and the interview from which it is taken is the way in which, while making this point, Smith is able to evoke other aspects of his identity . He presents himself as a cycling fan, as someone who holds a strong nostalgia for older forms of media (also, perhaps, signalling his age and generation) but who is, nevertheless, aware of newer forms, such as blogs and Twitter , and as someone from near Nottinghamâan identification evoked not only through the mention of the city but also through the accent with which he speaks (hence âmyâ becomes âmeâ in the transcript: âI had got me three quidâ). He uses an autobiographical narrative anecdote to make his point about how social media has changed cycling, and this also serves to underline his longstanding connection with cycling. As Paul Smith speaks these words in the video, the camera moves from the view of him and Simon Mottram to some old cycling magazines lying on the table in the room where Smith houses his extensive collection of cycling memorabilia, adding a further level of emphasis to his words. Ironically perhaps, given Smithâs declared anti-Internet stance, the interview itself is a video available on Raphaâs website and as such contributes to the way cycling is tied up with the brandâs corporate imageâor indeed âidentity â. The fact that in Britain Paul Smith is a well-recognised celebrity closely associated with cycling is arguably even more important for a company that targets amateur cyclists and fans (and probably also to Simon Mottram, an avid cycling fan himself) than the fact that both men are fashion designers. For this reason, the interview focuses on cycling and not fashion. A further relevant contextual consideration is that, as successful entrepreneurs in the global marketplace in the realm of fashion and leisure, Smith and Mottram are precisely the class of people who are able to thrive and benefit from what Bauman (2005) has characterised as a âliquid lifeâ in which identity itself is increasingly commodified and marketed to a range of middling classes while being denied to âfailed consumersâ (see Bauman 2004; Spracklen 2015: Ch.5).⊠I mean there is no way, I mean I used to go into Nottingham as, having saved up, go to a newsagentâs there, that occasionally had international magazines and then I heard about this ⊠[European cycle magazine name] or whatever it was, then now and again one would slip through the net, come in and it had to be the time I had got me three quid, or something like that, and it was just this bible that I carried aroundâjust so special. But I mean now we all know, you know immediately after the race, people are twittering, blogging, so in a way, it is not just about cycling it is just weâre just over-informed. (Rapha 2010)
Language, Identity and Cycling in the New Media Age
Exploring Interpersonal Semiotics in Multimodal Media and Online Texts
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Language, Identity and Cycling in the New Media Age
Exploring Interpersonal Semiotics in Multimodal Media and Online Texts
About This Book
This book examines how identities associated with cycling are evoked, narrated and negotiated in a media context dominated by digital environments. Arguing that the nature of identity is being impacted by the changing nature of the material and semiotic resources available for making meaning, the author introduces an approach to exploring such identity positioning through the interrelated frameworks of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Multimodal Analysis, and illustrates how this happens in practice. The book is divided into three parts, each of which focuses on a different aspect of identity and media environment. Part I considers celebrity identities in the conventional media of print and television. Part II investigates community and leisure / sporting identity through an online cycling forum, while Part III examines corporate identity realised through corporate websites, consumer reviews and Youtube channels. This unique volume will appeal to students and scholars of discourse analysis, applied linguistics and the world of cycling.
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1. Introduction: Exploring Language, Identity and Cycling in the New Media Age Through Systemic Functional Linguistics
Table of contents
- Cover
- Frontmatter
- 1. Introduction: Exploring Language, Identity and Cycling in the New Media Age Through Systemic Functional Linguistics
- 1. Identities in the Media
- 2. Identity and Online Communities
- 3. Multimodality, Corporate Identity, and Market Positioning
- Backmatter