Discurso, cognição e frames: uma análise político-ideológica de fake news à luz da linguística cognitiva

Abstract

This Master’s thesis, based on an integrated conception of cognition, language, and society, presents a study that aims to analyze ideological organization strategies in fake news through the framework of Frame Semantics (Fillmore, 1976), focusing on the frames CRIME, LULA, and BOLSONARO. Through this analysis, we seek to illustrate how fake news generates ideological effects by constructing these three selected frames. From the chosen theoretical perspective, language is understood as inherently connected to culture and society, and the knowledge systems of human communities serve as the foundation for linguistic meaning (ibid.; Lakoff, 1987). Additionally, we define fake news as a contemporary discourse genre that disseminates false information as true, with the intent of reinforcing a specific ideological orientation in a context of social polarization (Alves & Maciel, 2019). For this research, 135 fake news texts were selected from three fact-checking agencies—Agência Lupa, Aos Fatos, and Portal Confere—, with 45 texts chosen from each agency. Six fake news samples were then analyzed, two for each frame. The results indicate that the different frames employed similar strategies of ideological organization, particularly the division between US vs. THEM groups. Among the means used are the attribution of negative qualities, such as criminality and immorality, to THEM through lexical items, and positive qualities, such as leadership ability, charisma and good morals, to US, also through lexical means. In this way, the three frames, CRIME, LULA and BOLSONARO, construct a positive image of one candidate and a negative image of the other candidate, leading the reader's interpretation as a way of bringing him closer to the false and ideological point of view. This study fosters greater integration between ideology studies and Frame Semantics, demonstrating that such integration is essential for a comprehensive understanding of and response to the fake news phenomenon.