Seventh International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Culture is inherently linked to dynamics of information circulation. These latter produce foucauldian regimes of truth with their own values and social norms. The current social dynamics are characterized by two dialectical trends: the de-transcendentalization of symbolic mediations (Freitag, 2002)—the lyotardian decline of the “Grand Narratives”—in favor of systemic dynamics of operationality and performance; and the hyperindividualistic subject (Mondoux, 2011) aiming to be “emancipated” of ideologies, institutions and other transcendentally mediated values. Seen as “symbolic misery” (Stiegler, 2004) or “loss of efficiency of the symbolic” (Žižek, 2010), this “crisis of representation” (Bougnoux, 2006) has now extended to affect the regimes of truth themselves, giving way to a society plagued by disinformation, propaganda and fake news. This crisis is particularly noticeable in journalism, where its foundations (the institutional role of a watchdog of democracy) are disrupted by systemic operational logic that make circulation an end in itself (Dean, 2009) and reduce discourses to their circulatory efficiency (virality). Thus, not only are the regimes of truth in crisis, but truth itself is no longer the aim of circulation (post-truth). This state of affairs cannot be interpreted as a simple crisis. Crises (krisis) are defined as a moment of choice and thus lead to a political reflexive moment. The automation of symbolic mediations (Ménard & Mondoux, 2018) and viral circulation conceal the political and therefore constitute a second and more troubling crisis that also affects the epistemological realm. We analyze this “hypercrisis” through the mediatization of the Depp vs. Heard trial.