“”? Texting Scenes: Digital Schreibzeug & Emoji Activism

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.