Practices and strategies of cancel culture

Abstract

Considering the reflections on the levels of the pertinence of semiotic  analysis, and the different predicative scenes observed on social networks, which  use violence in different intensities to destroy the public image of the other  person or, in certain cases, to maintain it, we seek in this paper to identify how  the practices and strategies related to cancel culture are configured. These  practices, and the strategies that accommodate them, are carried out in the  virtual environment in the form of comments on social networks and other types  of online media that simulate a virtual court. By assuming the actantial roles of  judges, jurors, and executors, they negatively sanction the subject that  enunciates uninformed, prejudiced, and intolerant discourses, or expresses  behaviors that may corroborate denialist discourses, and apply various  punishments. On the other hand, the same practices can begin a process of  reiteration and strong assumption of the discourse or behavior that led the  subject to be initially judged and canceled. This behavior is observed in groups  that manifest discourses of support for moral values historically rooted in the  social structure, and are not consistent with a society that intends to be more  peaceful, inclusive, sustainable, and fair.