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Article
Troll Tracking: Examining Rhetorical Circulation of Anti-Intellectual Ideologies in Right-Wing Media Attacks
Communication, Culture and Critique
  • Brandi Lawless, University of San Francisco
  • Kristen L. Cole, San Jose State University
Publication Date
3-1-2021
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.1093/ccc/tcaa035
Abstract

This case study proposes a method of troll tracking to analyze how right-wing media attacks circulate and contribute to increasing anti-intellectualism in the United States. Given the increase in right-wing political "news"sites as originators of trolling activity and their propensity to espouse anti-intellectualism, we are interested in understanding more deeply how particular instances of this targeted outrage become rhetorical. Our analysis reveals how metaknowledge circulates misinformation through commentary that carries anti-intellectual ideologies rapidly across time and space. This process of detachment reveals important implications about the (re)production of anti-intellectual ideologies, the evocation of collective outrage that manifests as sexism and transphobia, and the gatekeeping of academic knowledge production.

Keywords
  • Anti-Intellectualism,
  • Circulation,
  • Rhetorical Detachment,
  • Social Media Attacks,
  • Trolling
Citation Information
Brandi Lawless and Kristen L. Cole. "Troll Tracking: Examining Rhetorical Circulation of Anti-Intellectual Ideologies in Right-Wing Media Attacks" Communication, Culture and Critique Vol. 14 Iss. 1 (2021) p. 149 - 165
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kristen-cole/51/