“We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end”: Hashtag activism in Hong Kong protests

Aditi Bhatia; Andrew Ross

doi:10.1075/jlp.21020.bha

“We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end”: Hashtag activism in Hong Kong protests

Aditi Bhatia
, Andrew Ross

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Focusing on the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, this article presents an analysis of Twitter posts adopting the hashtags #antiELAB, #NoChinaExtradition and #HongKongProtests. The analysis explores the public narrative among the collective identity of Hongkongers opposing the extradition bill as events unfolded during mid-2019 in Hong Kong. To do so, we adopt Bhatia’s (2015) multi-perspective framework for the Discourse of Illusion, which takes a three-prong approach to the study of argument construction and establishing legitimacy. Specifically, through the interrelated components of (1) historicity, (2) linguistic and semiotic action, and
(3) social impact, the dimensions of the hashtag narrative that emerged on
Twitter were explored.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	117-142
Number of pages	27
Journal	Journal of Language and Politics
Volume	21
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.21020.bha
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2022

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10.1075/jlp.21020.bha

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title = "“We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end”: Hashtag activism in Hong Kong protests",

abstract = "Focusing on the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, this article presents an analysis of Twitter posts adopting the hashtags \#antiELAB, \#NoChinaExtradition and \#HongKongProtests. The analysis explores the public narrative among the collective identity of Hongkongers opposing the extradition bill as events unfolded during mid-2019 in Hong Kong. To do so, we adopt Bhatia{\textquoteright}s (2015) multi-perspective framework for the Discourse of Illusion, which takes a three-prong approach to the study of argument construction and establishing legitimacy. Specifically, through the interrelated components of (1) historicity, (2) linguistic and semiotic action, and (3) social impact, the dimensions of the hashtag narrative that emerged on Twitter were explored.",

keywords = "Discourse of illusion, Hashtag activism, Hong Kong protests, Social media discourse, Twitter",

author = "Aditi Bhatia and Andrew Ross",

note = "Funding Information: This paper was funded by the Special Round of the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme by Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office, HKSAR Government, for the project titled {\textquoteleft}Hash-tag Activism in Hong Kong Protests{\textquoteright}, Project Number: SR2020.A6.011 Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} John Benjamins Publishing Company.",

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N2 - Focusing on the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, this article presents an analysis of Twitter posts adopting the hashtags #antiELAB, #NoChinaExtradition and #HongKongProtests. The analysis explores the public narrative among the collective identity of Hongkongers opposing the extradition bill as events unfolded during mid-2019 in Hong Kong. To do so, we adopt Bhatia’s (2015) multi-perspective framework for the Discourse of Illusion, which takes a three-prong approach to the study of argument construction and establishing legitimacy. Specifically, through the interrelated components of (1) historicity, (2) linguistic and semiotic action, and (3) social impact, the dimensions of the hashtag narrative that emerged on Twitter were explored.

AB - Focusing on the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, this article presents an analysis of Twitter posts adopting the hashtags #antiELAB, #NoChinaExtradition and #HongKongProtests. The analysis explores the public narrative among the collective identity of Hongkongers opposing the extradition bill as events unfolded during mid-2019 in Hong Kong. To do so, we adopt Bhatia’s (2015) multi-perspective framework for the Discourse of Illusion, which takes a three-prong approach to the study of argument construction and establishing legitimacy. Specifically, through the interrelated components of (1) historicity, (2) linguistic and semiotic action, and (3) social impact, the dimensions of the hashtag narrative that emerged on Twitter were explored.

KW - Discourse of illusion

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KW - Social media discourse

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ER -

“We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end”: Hashtag activism in Hong Kong protests

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