Anatomy of polarization and communicational barbarism 91 Braga (2020, p. 306) describes polarization as “the forced coexistence of adversaries, restricted to the supercode of their exacerbated difference in a binary structure, which ex- cludes inferences regarding other dimensions, but whose actions cannot help but mutually interfere with each other”. The author characterizes supercode as a standardizing process that operates in polarized contexts, which dismisses the need of adjustments and inferences necessary for the communication process. In this way, it constitutes a rigid process, inflexible to interpretative reflections and to “the variation of circumstances and ongoing actions, nullifying or overcoming the diversity of the other shared elements” (Braga, 2020, p. 306). Failing to find other shared references that can be activated, the opposing pole is confined to an equally rejecting position. Anyone who attempts to avoid the monocordial clash cannot find any shared processes that can be activated in the in- teraction: any arguments to navigate around the direct line between the poles are reinterpreted as confirmation of the established and imposed dif- ference (Braga, 2020, p. 307). In this way, the supercode imposes itself as full and sufficient, eliminating the possibility of dialogue, exhausting the communicative process, and causing a lack of circulation due to the absence of the necessary elements for the creation of infer- ences. In this context, communication is restricted to the exer- cise of the phatic function within polarized bubbles (confusional communication), in tautistic processes such as the Bolsonaro supporters’ shouts in Catholic temples that we highlighted at the beginning of this text. With the exclusion of the other in this process, the structure of extreme right-wing polarization makes the communication process impossible, promoting de-circulation. 5. Final remarks Throughout the text, we sought to advance our understanding of polarized communication processes, taking as an em-
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