Understanding the Social Gene of Swearing: The Manifestation of Emotional Self-Circulation
ESKIYENI, sa.62, ss.975-1008, 2026 (ESCI, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.37697/eskiyeni.1674745
- Dergi Adı: ESKIYENI
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS), MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Directory of Open Access Journals, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM), MLA International Bibliography, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.975-1008
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Purpose: While studies focusing on the functionality of sexually explicit swearing discourses often highlight the cathartic role of such expressions in providing emotional relief, they tend to overlook the fact that the semantic aspect ofthese discourses does not always lead to functional or beneficial outcomes. Besides their functional dimension, swearing discourses also possess semantic and performative dimensions. This study aims to examine the semantic and causal dimensions of sexually explicit swearing in depth. These dimensions have been neglected in the literature, which mostly focuses on the profanity's cathartic (relieving) role in terms of functionality and relies on secondary data for data collection. This phenomenological study explores the nature, causality, and relationality of sexually explicit swearing through the self-construction process within social production, aiming to examine the creation, use, and outcomes of the semantic and performative dimensions of swearing in the context of social interactions. Method: In this study, which employs a phenomenological design, the question of why individuals engage in swearing and why swearing discourses often reflect sexually explicit expressions was analyzed through the lens of self-relationality, based on participants' accounts. A total of 20 individuals (10 women and 10 men) took part in face-to-face interviews for the research. Purposive sampling was preferred to analyze the meaning of swearing use in greater depth. Accordingly, participants' age range was restricted to 18-35, while it was considered important that their educational level be at the bachelor's degree level or above. Semi-structured interviews conducted in Istanbul between May 10 and August 1, 2023 served as the primary data collection tool, and thematic analyses were formed by repeatedly reading participants' accounts. Findings: This study revealed two distinct but ultimately converging views on swearing: the functionality of emotion and the causality of society. The emphasis in the functionality of emotion is on causality related to the individual's sense of self, whereas the emphasis in the causality of society is on the agency of society itself. While the individual profile appears active in the first case and passive in the second, their behaviour essentially converges on the instinct for survival in social life. This is because individuals who exist in social life with their sense of self and self-presentation express these selves through discourse. Thus it is possible to argue that profanity in everyday life act as mediators through which we signify our sense of self. Various sub-themes shaping these two perspectives demonstrate how swearing discourses interrelate with the self and the social gene, including "self-division," "self-dissolution," "use of homogeneous emotions," "self-completion," "loss and slippage of meaning in swearing," and "immunity from mutual contradiction." Conclusion: Unlike existing literature, which primarily examines the functional consequences of swearing, this research focuses on the reasons behind its use. Examining how these discourses emerged in the context of emotional self-construction along gender lines, the roles they assumed, the outcomes they led to, and how they were passed down from generation to generation through the logic of the 'social gene'represents the original aspects of this research. However, given the contextual limitations of the study's sample, the possibility that swear word usage varies depending on the selection of the sample and the context opens up new areas of research for future studies.