Abstract

Emoji characters have become indispensable elements of our communication practice. Generally used to express moods or gestures, to clarify or obscure meaning, and to boost a message’s illocutionary force, emoji have expanded our communicative options considerably. And while they have also doubtlessly aided in facilitating international and cross-cultural communication, emoji’s declared goal, to enable “universal” communication, raises questions about this “universalism’s” shapes, forms, and colors. Emoji, this article argues, require us to attend to the texting scene they imply. Their specific history and materiality point to the mechanisms of exclusion emoji, however involuntarily, perpetuate. The article illustrates this in two steps. After a brief discussion of emoji’s history and precursors, including punctuation marks (Satzzeichen) and typographical gestalts such as emoticons, the article considers the influence of political protest on the evolution of our communicative and technological means, including emoji’s repertoire. A close look at the interplay of political activism and its “Schreibzeug” sheds light on the co-constitutive nature of (political) visions and their (esthetic) visualizations.

摘要

表情符号已经成为我们交流实践中不可或缺的元素。表情符号通常用于表达情绪或手势、澄清或模糊含义以及增强信息的言外力量，极大地扩展了我们的交流选择。虽然它们无疑也有助于促进国际和跨文化交流，但表情符号所宣称的目标是实现“普遍”交流，这引发了人们对这种“普遍主义”形状、形式和颜色的质疑。本文认为，表情符号要求我们关注它们所暗示的短信场景。它们的具体历史和重要性表明了排斥表情符号的机制，无论多么不自觉，都会永久存在。本文分两步说明了这一点。在简要讨论了表情符号的历史和前身，包括标点符号之后（Satzzeichen）和表情符号等印刷格式塔，本文考虑了政治抗议对我们的交流和技术手段（包括表情符号的全部内容）演变的影响。仔细观察政治行动主义及其“Schreibzeug”的相互作用，可以揭示（政治）愿景及其（美学）可视化的共同构成性质。