Discussing breast cancer in cyber spaces

Abstract The relationship between human beings and technology has raised concerns about adaptability as a major issue ( Mey 2015a ) in the cyber era. With a view to understanding how communication occurs in the modern world, Mey proposes four dimensions of adaptability for contemporary new technologies: the dimensions of time, place, persons and objects. In the present study, we use these dimensions to guide our analysis. Drawing on cyber-ethnographic studies ( Hallett and Barber 2014 ; Emmanuel & Day 2011 ; Gebera 2008 ; Thomsen, Straubhaar, and Bolyard 1998 ), we have investigated a particular Brazilian breast cancer female patient’s cyberspace discourses, while focusing on the pragmatic analysis of digital data . Ours is a qualitative research study ( Denzin & Lincoln 2006 ) and the theoretical framework includes narrative studies ( De Fina & Georgakopoulou 2008 ; Bastos 2008 ); studies on identity and emotions; as well as studies on context, performance and agency in discourse ( Austin 1962 ; Pereira & Cortez 2013 ). The study aims to answer the following questions: (i) How is adaptability observed through patient discourses and cyber access? (ii) What identities have been constructed through a particular patient’s discourses? (iii) How are emotions conveyed in the participant’s discourses?