Akin Odebunmi

On terrorist attacks in Nigeria: Stance and engagement in conversations on Nairaland

Terrorist attacks in Nigeria have generated a huge body of conversations and debates on the Internet. This study investigates the contents of these online conversations on Nairaland and how such conversations exhibit stance and civic engagement in response to the attacks. Nairaland is an online community and public space that serves as a meeting place for Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, who constantly follow-up on the events in Nigeria and participate in political debates about the country. This study argues that the frequent negative evaluations of Boko Haram and the attribution of the activities to Islam and the consistent constructions of northern Nigeria as ‘violent people’ and Islam as an ‘evil’ religion in Nairaland are potential to further worsen religious and ethnic relations in Nigeria.

Book review: Nicholas Allott, Key Terms in Pragmatics. London and New York: Continuum, 2010. 251 pp., £16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781847063786

approach to understand the process of attribution of actions – or de-agentialization – to the different types of participants represented. Fairclough presents the Dialectal-Relational Approach. In this approach, textual analysis is only a part of semiotic (discourse) analysis. Social elements – orders of discourse, social practices and events – should be understood in their dialectical relationship with the semiotic ones, though cognitive issues are not taken into account. Methodological procedures are part of the researcher’s theoretical decisions, since each object of research will allow and even require the selection of different methods. The greatest value of Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis is its ability to present CDA in a concise and introductory way. In this volume, readers will find a fair presentation of CDA’s agenda, shared goals and the diversity which characterizes this field of research. It is recommended reading for CDA beginners, for those researchers from different fields of humanities or social political fields who want to get a fix on the school so they know what they will adhere to if they choose to adopt a CDA perspective in their research, as well as for experienced CDA researchers, always interested in the latest developments of this ever evolving and exciting school.