Anatomy of polarization and communicational barbarism 85 3. Semantic level: phatic language and dissolution of meanings According to Klemperer (2009), the LTI – Language of the Third Reich – was the language disseminated during the Nazi regime, not only through spoken and written language, but also through architecture, cinema, music, and the arts in general, which expressed the spirit of the Nazi era. It is a language of faith, aimed at fanaticism, characterized by poverty of language, deconstruction of meanings, and directed towards emotion (Klemperer, 2009). Similarly, in his characterization of “ur-fascism,” a com- pilation of key Nazi-fascist characteristics, Umberto Eco (2002) also lists irrationalism and the creation of a “newspeak,” a term borrowed from Orwell, which is based on a poor lexicon and el- ementary language. Both Eco (2002) and Klemperer (2009) refer to the im- poverished and simplistic nature of language during Nazi-fascist experiences, but these aspects can be associated with the characteristics of the language expressed by the content circulating in the far-right mediasphere in Brazil. The reference to a set of shared meanings, discursive redundancy, and the use of vulgar and coarse vocabulary in inappropriate contexts are character- istics of the semantic level of this mediasphere. During the Bolsonaro administration, journalistic portals mentioned a distinctive terminology used by the president, which referred to terms reproduced by the Bolsonaro media- sphere (Figure 2). “Disorder”, “gender ideology”, and “cultural Marxism”, are some of the terms referenced in the news, which noted the mention of these terms in the presidential speech and reproduced by his ministers and political supporters.
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