From public health to socio-political contestation in vaccination cartoons: A reception study on Facebook users

Abstract

Drawing on reception studies and multimodality, this study examines how Romanian users assessed the European Commission’s Representation in Romania (ECRR) cartoons about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. Employing computer-assisted qualitative and quantitative analysis of public comments in MAXQDA, this study focused on comment sections as sites of reception. The findings showed a prevalence of multimodal elements as an affective mode of reception. The main topics identified in the comments were: vaccine skepticism and mistrust, social division and political polarization, and irony, sarcasm, and humor as social critique. Vaccination was not framed as a public-health measure but as a terrain of social and political contestation. The findings highlighted the use of irony, sarcasm, and humor as discursive tools for social critique, while comment thread analysis revealed hostile discourse marked by dehumanization through name-calling and animal-related metaphors. A final finding showed that the users’ evaluations of vaccination cartoons are shaped by socio-cultural context, particularly trust in authorities.

Keywords

• Cartoons
• comment section
• reception studies
• multimodality
• vaccination

Aşılanma karikatürlerinde halk sağlığından sosyo-politik çatışmaya: Facebook kullanıcıları üzerine bir alımlama çalışması

Abstract

Alımlama çalışmaları ve çok kiplilik alanlarından yararlanan bu çalışma, Romen kullanıcıların Avrupa Komisyonu'nun Romanya Temsilciliği'nin COVID-19 aşılamasına ilişkin karikatürlerini nasıl değerlendirdiğini incelemektedir. MAXQDA'da kamusal yorumların bilgisayar destekli nitel ve nicel analizi kullanılarak yürütülen bu çalışma, yorum bölümlerini alımlama mekânları olarak ele almaktadır. Bulgular, çok kipli unsurların bir duygulanım alımlama biçimi olarak yaygın biçimde kullanıldığını ortaya koymaktadır. Yorumlarda tespit edilen başlıca konular şunlardır: aşı şüpheciliği ve güvensizlik, toplumsal bölünme ve siyasi kutuplaşma ile sosyal eleştiri aracı olarak ironi, alaycılık ve mizah. Aşılama, bir halk sağlığı tedbiri olarak değil, toplumsal ve siyasi bir çatışma zemini olarak çerçevelenmiştir. Bulgular, ironi, alaycılık ve mizahın söylemsel birer sosyal eleştiri aracı olarak kullanımını ön plana çıkarmakta; yorum dizilerinin analizinin ise hakaret ve hayvansal metaforlar aracılığıyla insanlıktan çıkarmayı içeren düşmanca bir söylemi gün yüzüne çıkardığını göstermektedir. Son bir bulgu, kullanıcıların aşılama karikatürlerine ilişkin değerlendirmelerinin sosyo-kültürel bağlam ve özellikle otoritelere duyulan güven tarafından şekillendirildiğini ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Karikatürler
• yorum bölümü
• alımlama çalışmaları
• çok kipli iletişim
• aşılanma

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