Misogyny beyond borders: A Cross-Linguistic Corpus Assisted Analysis of Transnational Incel Communities

This dissertation investigates the transnational dynamics of online misogyny through a cross-linguistic, corpus-assisted analysis of two emblematic Incel communities: the Anglophone forum incels.is and the Italian Forum dei Brutti (FDB). Adopting an interdisciplinary methodology that combines Feminist Critical Discourse Studies (FCDS) and Cross-Linguistic Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CL-CADS), the research explores how misogynistic ideologies circulate and adapt within different sociolinguistic contexts. The study introduces and analyses the multilingual and multimodal corpus IDA - Incel Data Archive, designed to support comparisons across platforms and lan- guages. Through a mixed-methods approach that integrates quanti- tative and computational techniques such as topic modeling, keyword extraction, and collocation analysis with qualitative close reading, this work uncovers discursive patterns in the representation of gender and identity hierarchies in the two communities of incels.is and Forum dei Brutti (FDB). Findings reveal both shared ideological foundations and localised variations in Incel discourse: while both communities exhibit rigid aesthetic hierarchies and dehumanising language towards women, the Italian forum distinguishes itself by the participation of female users who negotiate legitimacy through alignment with patriarchal norms. Moreover, the analysis shows how technological affordances – often overlooked in corpus-based studies – mediate community boundaries and discursive practices. Theoretically, this thesis contributes to the development of a situated and feminist digital epistemology, demonstrating how the interplay of platform infrastructures, cultural context, and language shape the articulation of gendered violence online. Methodologically, it offers a replicable framework for cross-cultural analysis of cryptolects and digitally mediated misogyny, addressing the underrepresentation of non-English data in hate speech research. By conceptualising online misogyny as a glocal phenomenon – globally coherent and locally adapted – this study provides insights into the structural mechanisms of gender-based violence in digital environments and the socio-technical systems that sustain them.