Well, Don’t These Two Look Dapper! Epistemological Positioning on Celebrity Gossip Websites
Well, Don’t These Two Look Dapper! Epistemological Positioning on Celebrity Gossip Websites

Summary/Abstract: Akin to stereotype, gossip is a transmission mechanism which fulfils persuasive functions, but which does not seek to answer questions about the genuineness of the transmitted information or its anchoring in reality other than the reality created during the communication process (Wagner 2006: 39). Such is also the case with online celebrity gossip, in which writers recruit various strategies to vary the epistemic strength of their assessments and to claim or disclaim responsibility for the accuracy of the provided information. Given the foregoing, basing on English and Polish linguistic material, this article investigates elements of epistemological positioning (Bednarek 2006) which underlie the construction of online celebrity news in two languages lacking grammaticalised systems of evidentiality. To this end, the study outlines the main strategies related to the communication of knowledge and identifi es the resources used for the construal of (un)certainty in this type of discourse. Th e sources of evidence analysed in the study include: “Perception/Inference,” “General knowledge,” “Proof,” “Obviousness,” “Unspecifi ed,” “Hearsay” and “Mindsay,” based on which diverse English and Polish EP markers are discussed. As the findings expose, rather than off er solid evidence, the authors of both sets of articles rely chiefly on perception, inference and hearsay, showing little epistemic commitment and decreasing the informative value of their reports

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