RECONCEPTUALIZING PROPAGANDA: THE SHIFT FROM RHETORIC OF PERSUASION TO ALGORITHMIC CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
Abstract
The transformation of propaganda technologies within digital culture presents a fundamental problem for contemporary socio-philosophical thought, necessitating in-depth interdisciplinary analysis. From a diachronic perspective, one can trace the evolutionary trajectory of propaganda: from explicit linguistic mechanisms of influence studied by Victor Klemperer, through the conceptualization of "total propaganda" in Jacques Ellul's philosophical legacy, to the implicit, algorithmically mediated structures that characterize the era of digimodernism. Contemporary digital propaganda transcends the realm of rhetorical persuasion, transforming into an immanent element within the very ontology of the media environment. It evolves into a metastructure that not only transmits messages but constitutes fundamental modes of access to information, determining the very possibility of cognition and interpretation of social reality. This epistemological shift correlates with the formation of a special configuration of cultural space in which technologically mediated forms of interactivity become dominant factors in the constitution of subjectivity and social relations. Analysis of the transformation of propaganda mechanisms reveals a fundamental shift from the modification of cognitive structures via linguistically mediated argumentation to the programming of behavioral patterns through algorithmically organized systems of rewards, filtering, and nudges. The complex effects of this transformation are evident at the level of individual and collective consciousness, including the fragmentation of identities, the polarization of socio-political discourse, the erosion of epistemological trust in institutional sources of knowledge, and the instrumentalization of emotional reactions in electoral processes. This creates unprecedented challenges for democratic systems historically based on principles of rational discourse and informed civic participation. Studying these complex phenomena requires an integrative methodology that combines the tools of rhetoric, linguistic-semiotic analysis, systems-theoretical modeling, and research into algorithmic structures of the digital environment. Such methodological convergence enables a comprehensive understanding of digital propaganda as a multidimensional phenomenon functioning at technological, social, cognitive, and affective levels, forming a holistic ecosystem of informational influence on contemporary subjectivity in both its individual and collective dimensions.
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