Discursive Interpretation of Power Processes in the Internet Space: Discourse Analysis of E. Laclaude and C. Mouffe vs Critical Discourse Analysis of R. Vodak

Abstract

The article attempts to construct a synthetic discursive interpretation of power processes in cyberspace based on a combination of E. Laclau and C. Mouffe's discursive theory of hegemony with R. Vodak's discursive-historical approach. It is noted that the constructed approach allows combining critical analysis of linguistic and semiotic practices with a macro-level vision of discursive struggle for hegemony, providing a holistic understanding of power processes in the digital environment. In particular, after analyzing the relevant theoretical literature, the author determines that the discursive-historical approach allows for the identification of specific linguistic and semiotic strategies, which the author classifies as nominations, predications, arguments, perspectivizations, intensifications, and mitigations. The article describes how users produce and disseminate meaning on the internet through these strategies, taking into account the socio-political context of their emergence. At the same time, the article demonstrates how the discursive theory of hegemony by E. Laclau and C. Mouffe opens up the possibility of interpreting these practices as elements of broader processes of hegemony, where online discourses function as fields of antagonistic struggle for the establishment of dominant frameworks of interpretation and identification. The article pays particular attention to the fact that this synthesis makes it possible to trace how specific discursive practices on the Internet not only reproduce certain ideological positions, but also acquire significance in the broader antagonistic struggle of discourses, where social identities and order are constantly being constructed. The article forms a methodological foundation for further empirical research on processes of power in cyberspace, ensuring the integration of local discursive practices and global structures of hegemony, as well as opening up the possibility for a comprehensive analysis of strategies for (re)producing power and constructing social identities in the virtual environment.