Totalitarian and Democratic Rhetoric as an Indicator of the Relations of Power in the Contemporary Information Society

Abstract

The article is devoted to study of totalitarian and democratic types of rhetoric. The classical dichotomy of rhetorical influence has been discovered: monologic use of rhetoric as a verbal weapon through propaganda, demagoguery, populism, creation of the image of an enemy, division of society (totalitarian type of rhetoric) and dialogical use of rhetoric as consolidating communication, truth-seeking, social consent and understanding (democratic type of rhetoric). It is shown that the trigger of democratic and totalitarian regimes is the existential of freedom.

The active influence of the postmodern rhetoric of the information age in its performativity in the acquisition of snack culture is determined, which significantly strengthens the manipulative strategies. Totalitarian tendencies of digital rhetoric are found in information warfare technologies (network trolling, mobbing, hype, hatering, holy waring, click-baiting, sockpuppeting), in the processes of censorship, ambivalence and negativism of information, spreading fake news, igniting conflicts in mass media. Militarization of vocabulary and spread of obscene language in ordinary communication as factors of compensatory aggression of the population, the danger of excessive information transparency of people’s private lives are noted. Democratism of the digital rhetoric is manifested in such phenomena as the direct creation of e-democracy, access of citizens to e-voting, e-services, e-petitions, overcoming digital inequality, the ability to communicate with officials and public officers live on TV and radio, in social networks. Democratic principles of rhetoric, especially in Ukraine as a state of “transitional democracy” should be supported by quality education, fostering critical thinking and activity of civil society.