The rhetoric of reaction and the disinformation campaign in fake news about the Covid-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to analyze the argumentative structure of fake news in the Covid-19-era by focusing on its argumentative strength and persuasiveness. The concepts of Rhetoric of Reaction (HIRSCHMAN, 1992), Ethos and Pathos of Aristotle's Classical Rhetoric and Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca's New Rhetoric (1996) were the framework for the analysis. Our methodology was based on the analysis of three fake news reports related to the negationist campaign against the Covid-19 pandemic, each of which was taken as a prototype of the following categories proposed by Hirschman (1992) perversity, futility, and jeopardy theses. The results indicate that fake news should be understood as an inherently digital phenomenon that uses well-developed argumentative strategies as its objective is to cause discredit and doubt in the public opinion. Therefore, if we take the average citizen into account, fake news is highly persuasive and consequently should be considered of extreme danger to society and its democratic and scientific principles. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a estrutura argumentativa de fake news sobre o Covid-19, procurando verificar sua força argumentativa e sua capacidade de persuasão. Tomamos por base para nossa análise os conceitos de A retórica da intransigência de Hirschman (1992), de Ethos e Pathos da Retórica de Aristóteles (1998) e Tratado da argumentação. A nova retórica de Perelman e Olbrechts-Tyteca (1996). Nossa metodologia baseou-se na análise de três fake news relacionadas à campanha negacionista contra a Pandemia de Covid-19, cada uma tomada como prototípica das categorias levantadas por Hirschman (1992) a Tese da Perversidade, a Tese da Futilidade e a Tese do Medo. Os resultados obtidos indicam que as fake news devem ser entendidas como um fenômeno inerentemente digital que se utiliza de estratégias argumentativas bem elaboradas, segundo seu objetivo de suscitar o descrédito e a dúvida da opinião pública. Portanto, levando-se em conta o cidadão médio, podemos dizer que as fake news têm uma grande capacidade persuasiva e por isso devem ser encaradas como algo de extremo perigo para a sociedade e seus princípios democráticos e científicos. (Portuguese) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Revista de Estudos da Linguagem is the property of Revista de Estudos da Linguagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)