While 20th-century dictatorships relied on fear and violence, contemporary autocrats increasingly employ 'spin' – the manipulation of information – to control narratives and shape public perception. This linguistic strategy is central to maintaining their perceived legitimacy.
The project, titled ‘From Spin to Structure: The Linguistic Mechanisms of Authoritarian Communication’, is led by Leverhulme Post-doctoral researcher Dr Sophiko Daraselia from the School of Information, Journalism and Communication. It seeks to understand the fundamental question: 'how does spin work through language itself?'
The research will develop a theoretical framework to explain how authoritarian spin operates as a linguistic system. By using post-Soviet countries as a case study, the project will identify recurring linguistic patterns within historical texts that have historically bolstered the legitimacy and credibility of authoritarian regimes.
The analysis will encompass text from both government sources and pro-government media outlets. This dual approach will enable Dr Daraselia to examine how political elites construct spin and how it is subsequently recontextualised by the media to enhance its persuasiveness to the public.
“"Spin is usually studied through a particular event or a political actor, while my research takes a different approach and analyses over 200 million words of government and media texts. This will allow me to trace linguistic patterns of authoritarian narratives that recur across more than a million texts spanning several years. A large, continuous dataset is essential to understand how language changes between quieter times and the periods around major political events, when information manipulation is at its most intense."
This extensive dataset will be crucial for understanding linguistic shifts during periods of intense information manipulation, contrasting them with quieter times.
