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A hidden population: A rhetorical genre analysis of the posts in the Baidu depression community

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  • Ji, Tianlu
  • Li, Ke

Abstract

Since its beginning in the 1980s, the mental health rhetoric research (MHRR) has explored the rhetorical construction of mental illness from a genre perspective. Despite a growing body of research on the rhetorical study of mental health in the West, the discourse of depression has been rarely explored in the Chinese context. This study investigates a corpus of 3217 posts in the Baidu depression community in China with an attempt to identify typical rhetorical features of the posts in the depression community as a genre. We intend, through an exploration of the exigences, social actions, and consequences of the posts, to facilitate a better understanding of the depressed population in China. We argue that the social exigences for the posts in online depression communities can be regarded as a failure of the rhetorical environment in real life and that expressing emotions, exchanging information, establishing interpersonal relationships, and communicating across spatiotemporal boundaries are the typified social actions performed by the posts in the Baidu depression community. Moreover, as a genre, the posts have successfully created an ambience of collective intimacy. Taken together, the findings shed light on the rhetorical study of depression in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Ji, Tianlu & Li, Ke, 2024. "A hidden population: A rhetorical genre analysis of the posts in the Baidu depression community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 353(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:353:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004891
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117036
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    1. Pleasants, Elizabeth & Parham, Lindsay & Weidert, Karen & Anderson, Emma & Dolgins, Eliza & Prata, Ndola & Upadhyay, Ushma D. & Marshall, Cassondra, 2024. "Waiting to start abortion: A qualitative exploration of narratives of waiting shared in a Reddit community for abortion post-Dobbs leak in 2022," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    2. Hanmei Fan & Reeva Lederman & Frantz Rowe & Sabine Matook, 2018. "Online health communities: how do community members build the trust required to adopt information and form close relationships?," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 62-89, January.
    3. Walter, Dror & Ophir, Yotam & Lokmanoglu, Ayse D. & Pruden, Meredith L., 2022. "Vaccine discourse in white nationalist online communication: A mixed-methods computational approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
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