ANÁLISE SINTÁTICO-SEMÂNTICA DE MENSAGENS GOLPISTAS DE 2022: UMA DISCUSSÃO COGNITIVO-FUNCIONAL

Abstract

Contemporary has shown an information crisis. It is a global and intentional process that generates a complex scenario that creates, disseminates, consumes, and feeds itself with texts (verbal and non-verbal) of misinformation, causing negative impacts from different spheres. The present research intended to study, from the eyes of cognitive linguistics, text messages that were published and shared on social networks - in the first 72 hours after the release of the result of the second round of Brazil's presidential election, in 2022, available for public access on the Golpeflix website (Aos Fatos, 2024). Observing the corpus, we interested in analyzing how linguistic choices in misinformation texts influence the construction of meaning and how it can contribute to the dissemination of false information. To this challenge, we developed a qualitative and exploratory focus research, in the documentary modality. In total, there were nine images of texts that made up the corpus. First, we categorized them into different types of misinformation (contextual distortion, satire, propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation), restricting our analysis to texts that contained false information with the intention of causing harm (OECD, 2024). Then we established the cognitive-functional theoretical concepts that assisted in our analyses, using the notion of frames and valences, corresponding to the argument structures of the verbs present in text messages (Furtado da Cunha, 2016; Ferrari, 2016; Gomes and Rodrigues, 2019). Finally, we observe that the adaptability of the syntactic argument structure, with the omission of arguments and semantic agents of enunciated scenes can influence readers' interpretation, leading them to believe in false narratives and to support illegal actions. Thus, we understand that cognitive linguistics, as a theoretical perspective, encourages critical reading, helping readers become less susceptible to consuming/feeding the disinformation chain.