Unveiling Speech Acts: An Analysis of Digital Conversations in Sharum Ki Sketchbook

Abstract

Critical study of illocutionary speech acts, as characterized by Searle (1969) typologically among his five prototypes (expressive, directives, commissive, representatives, and declarations) provides a formidable structure that can be used to study the linguistic processes involved by means of digitally mediated narrative sites like Sharum Ki Sketchbook. The proposed research aims to fill an important gap in sociolinguistic scholarship and examine the pragmatics of language in virtual, narrative-based spaces. Digital storytelling platforms have taken over the central position in the social interaction, cultural narratives, and identity construction, but their linguistic dynamics are relatively under-explored. This project will show how the speech acts create meaning, power negotiations, and relationship definitions by categorizing conversations in Sharum Ki Sketchbook using the typology of Searle. Identifying the dominant illocutionary type and its pragmatic effect explains how language can influence the social process in the setting where the conventional face-to-face signals are not available. In addition, the examination of how these performances express relations of character, authority, and interactional roles contributes to the comprehension of the relationship between linguistic options and social structures in virtual environments, and, therefore, promotes the study of digital communication.

Key Terms: Illocutionary Speech Acts, Searle’s Speech Act Theory, Digital Storytelling, Pragmatic Functions, Social Interactions, Identity Construction.