SILENCE IN CYBERDISCOURSE: ETHOS AND THE AVATAR-SUBJECT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.14383Keywords:
Discourse Analysis, silence, ethosAbstract
In post-truth times, we experience a deep incongruence between the supremacy of big techs and the persistence of social and digital exclusion, according to Santos (2011), as hegemonic forces coming from (neo)liberalism hold sway (Guilbert, 2020). Increasing automation, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), in agreement with Harari (2018), threatens to obliterate jobs and exacerbate social disparity, concentrating power and resources in a small elite. In this context, in light of pecheutian materialist discourse analysis, we seek to clarify and analyze the processes of emerging meanings in the materialities of cyberdiscourse and cybernetic discourse to understand cybercultural functioning. In this sense, we discuss the individua(liza)tion of the avatar-subject and how various types of ethos are projected, conforming to Maingueneau (2025), taking into account the articulating work of the forms of the silence proposed by Orlandi (2007). In this qualitative, bibliographical and analytical study, we explore three discursive sequences: a) a reel about surveillance and algorithmic control based on Marilena Chauí’s experience with a virtual assistant, b) a post by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about innovation and technological power and c) an excerpt from the privacy policies constituting Meta’s institutional discourse on its official website. Because this is a relatively recent matter with significant social impacts, we hope to contribute to reflections that address the relationship among digital technology, society, language and ideology.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Luís Fernando da Silva, Rosemeri Passos Baltazar Machado

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