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Cross-Cultural Observations on English and German Wikipedia Entries at the Interface of Convergence and Controversy

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Analyzing Digital Discourses

Abstract

Wikipedia represents the largest online encyclopedia worldwide. Its participatory functions enable its users to create entries dynamically and collectively. This may lead not only to convergence, but also to conflict at the micro-level of the contributions of individual users and in the interaction at the meso-level of the Wikipedia community. This study analyses Wikipedia’s sites for negotiating convergence, conflict and identity, concentrating on two aspects. First, convergence and conflict at the macro-level of intercultural comparison are investigated using the example of the construction of concepts of nationalism, citizenship, identity and tribe in their English and German language versions. Second, the English articles serve as a basis to examine the types of convergence and conflict tendencies at the micro-level of the Talk-section. The findings are interpreted against the background of the identity construction of single authors and on the meso-level of the Wikipedia community.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wikipedia-statistics/, latest version: 21 February 2020, retrieved 7 April 2020.

  2. 2.

    https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wikipedia-statistics/, retrieved 7 April 2020.

  3. 3.

    https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wikipedia-statistics/, latest version: 21 February 2020, retrieved 7 April 2020.

  4. 4.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars, retrieved 20 March 2018.

  5. 5.

    https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wikipedia-statistics/, latest version: 21 February 2020, retrieved 7 April 2020.

  6. 6.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nation&offset=20070412225842&limit=500&action=history, retrieved 15 April 2020.

  7. 7.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars, retrieved 20 March 2018.

  8. 8.

    This is different in the German Talk1-section, where the ideological framing of the article is hotly debated against the backdrop of the NPOV principle: both concepts are at least mentioned as historical developments, and Nationalsozialismus (contrasted to Nationalismus) even gets a separate sub-heading of a very short passage, which, however, does not elaborate the relation of both concepts. (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diskussion:Nationalismus, retrieved 20 March 2020).

  9. 9.

    We would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this interpretation.

  10. 10.

    For reasons of authenticity, postings are given as in the original, but for ethical reasons, anonymized and reduced to the material essential for illustration.

  11. 11.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Stfg. Accessed 30 May 2020.

  12. 12.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Slrubenstein. Retrieved 30 May 2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. English Department, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sonja Kleinke & Julia Landmann

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  1. Sonja Kleinke
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  2. Julia Landmann
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Correspondence to Sonja Kleinke .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of French Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Marjut Johansson

  2. Department of Languages, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Sanna-Kaisa Tanskanen

  3. Department of English & American Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Jan Chovanec

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Kleinke, S., Landmann, J. (2021). Cross-Cultural Observations on English and German Wikipedia Entries at the Interface of Convergence and Controversy. In: Johansson, M., Tanskanen, SK., Chovanec, J. (eds) Analyzing Digital Discourses. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84602-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84602-2_6

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