{"title":"The Politics of Anti-Discourse: Copypasta, the Alt-Right, and the Rhetoric of Form","authors":"Robert J. Topinka","doi":"10.1353/tae.2022.0017","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay examines the reactionary turn in digital culture through the copypasta, a meaningless block of text shared on message boards and recognizable only to the already-initiated. Although rarely studied, the copypasta is an archetype of contemporary digital culture. As a form, it refuses representational content and coordinates affect, holding a position against the stream of digital content. I argue that digital form—rather than representational content—carries potent ideological and affective charge. Building on an analysis of the copypastas on 4chan's infamous / pol/ board, I suggest scholars resuscitate the rhetorical canon of dispositio, or arrangement, for the computational age.","PeriodicalId":55174,"journal":{"name":"Discrete Event Dynamic Systems-Theory and Applications","volume":"184 3 1","pages":"392 - 418"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Discrete Event Dynamic Systems-Theory and Applications","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tae.2022.0017","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"AUTOMATION & CONTROL SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Abstract:This essay examines the reactionary turn in digital culture through the copypasta, a meaningless block of text shared on message boards and recognizable only to the already-initiated. Although rarely studied, the copypasta is an archetype of contemporary digital culture. As a form, it refuses representational content and coordinates affect, holding a position against the stream of digital content. I argue that digital form—rather than representational content—carries potent ideological and affective charge. Building on an analysis of the copypastas on 4chan's infamous / pol/ board, I suggest scholars resuscitate the rhetorical canon of dispositio, or arrangement, for the computational age.
期刊介绍:
The research on discrete event dynamic systems (DEDSs) is multi-disciplinary in nature and its development has been dynamic. Examples of DEDSs include manufacturing plants, communication networks, computer systems, management information databases, logistics systems, command-control-communication systems, robotics, and other man-made operational systems. The state processes of such systems cannot be described by differential equations in general. The aim of this journal, Discrete Event Dynamic Systems: Theory and Applications, is to publish high-quality, peer-reviewed papers on the modeling and control of, and all other aspects related to, DEDSs. In particular, the journal publishes papers dealing with general theories and methodologies of DEDSs and their applications to any particular subject, including hybrid systems, as well as papers discussing practical problems from which some generally applicable DEDS theories or methodologies can be formulated; The scope of this journal is defined by its emphasis on discrete events and the dynamic nature of the systems and on their modeling, control and optimization.