Andreas Ventsel
I am an associate professor of semiotics at Tartu University and a lecturer in Pallas University of Applied Sciences (Tartu). I hold an MA degree (University of Tartu, 2005) and a PhD (University of Tartu, 2009) in Semiotics. I teach a range of subjects in semiotics, society and politics, cultural theory and research seminars. My research is interdisciplinary which include semiotics, discourse theory, visual communication, rhetoric and political analysis with particular focus on the post-structural political thought (Laclau, Derrida etc). Since 2007 I have participated in several research projects in the fields of political semiotics, visual studies and strategical-communication. I have presented the results of my research on these topics in around 100 academic articles and been the initiator and editor of several both Estonian-based and international scientific journals. I am the author of books "Strategic conspiracy narratives: semiotic approach" (with M-L. Madisson from Tartu University. Routledge 2020) and “Introducing Relational Political Analysis. Political Semiotics as a Theory and Method” (with P. Selg from Tallinn University. Palgrave MacMillan 2020). I have given courses in main universities in Estonia and in several universities abroad. I regularly publish reviews and essays on cultural journals and Estonian newspapers. I’m a member of International Association of Semiotic Studies, International Association of Visual Semiotics, International Association of Security Studies and Estonian Semiotic Society.
Address: andreasventsel@gmail.com
Address: andreasventsel@gmail.com
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Conspiracy theories play a significant role in the viral spread of misinformation that has an impact on the formation of public opinion about certain topics. They allow the connecting of different events that have taken place in various times and places and involve several actors that seem incompatible to bystanders. This book focuses on strategic-function conspiracy narratives in the context of (social) media and information conflict. It explicates the strategic devices in how conspiracy theories can be used to evoke a hermeneutics of suspicion – a permanent scepticism and questioning of so-called mainstream media channels and dominant public authorities, delegitimisation of political opponents, and the ongoing search for hidden clues and coverups. The success of strategic dissemination of conspiracy narratives depends on the cultural context, specifics of the targeted audience and the semiotic construction of the message. This book proposes an innovative semiotic perspective for analysing contemporary strategic communication. The authors develop a theoretical framework that is based on semiotics of culture, the notions of strategic narrative and transmedia storytelling.
This book is targeted to specialists and graduate students working on social theory, semiotics, journalism, strategic communication, social media and contemporary social problems in general.
In paper 1 (The construction of the ‘we’-category: Political rhetoric in Soviet Estonia from June 1940 to July 1941. Sign System Studies, 2007, 35. ½, 249-267 ) I focus on applying one alternative approach to the research of political discourse, analysing how power relations are established through pronouns (deictics) used in political speeches in first soviet period.
Papers 2 (Towards a semiotic theory of hegemony: Naming as hegemonic operation in Lotman and Laclau. Sign System Studies m 2008, 36.1, 167-183) and 3 (An outline for a semiotic theory of hegemony. Semiotica, 2009, xx - xx. [forthcoming]) (both co-written with Peeter Selg) I elaborate the model of this theoretical approach, using the discourse of the Bronze Night and the Singing Revolution as the analysis material.
Paper 4 (Hegemooniline tähistamisprotsess fotograafias [Hegemonic process of signification in photograph]. Kunstiteaduslikke uurimusi. 2009, XX-XX [forthcoming]) tries to distinguish some of the signification practices of the visualisation of power by examining the hegemonic signifying strategies that were used in creating “the people” in the public picture-producing regime during the Stalinist period. The paper also makes use of Barthes’ semiotic and visual rhetoric views on photography.
Paper 5 (The role of political rhetoric in the development of Soviet totalitarian language. Russian Journal of Communication, Vol. II, No. 1/2 (Winter/Spring 2009), 9-26) tries to explicate, within the created framework, the phenomenon of totalitarian language of the Soviet era.
Conspiracy theories play a significant role in the viral spread of misinformation that has an impact on the formation of public opinion about certain topics. They allow the connecting of different events that have taken place in various times and places and involve several actors that seem incompatible to bystanders. This book focuses on strategic-function conspiracy narratives in the context of (social) media and information conflict. It explicates the strategic devices in how conspiracy theories can be used to evoke a hermeneutics of suspicion – a permanent scepticism and questioning of so-called mainstream media channels and dominant public authorities, delegitimisation of political opponents, and the ongoing search for hidden clues and coverups. The success of strategic dissemination of conspiracy narratives depends on the cultural context, specifics of the targeted audience and the semiotic construction of the message. This book proposes an innovative semiotic perspective for analysing contemporary strategic communication. The authors develop a theoretical framework that is based on semiotics of culture, the notions of strategic narrative and transmedia storytelling.
This book is targeted to specialists and graduate students working on social theory, semiotics, journalism, strategic communication, social media and contemporary social problems in general.
In paper 1 (The construction of the ‘we’-category: Political rhetoric in Soviet Estonia from June 1940 to July 1941. Sign System Studies, 2007, 35. ½, 249-267 ) I focus on applying one alternative approach to the research of political discourse, analysing how power relations are established through pronouns (deictics) used in political speeches in first soviet period.
Papers 2 (Towards a semiotic theory of hegemony: Naming as hegemonic operation in Lotman and Laclau. Sign System Studies m 2008, 36.1, 167-183) and 3 (An outline for a semiotic theory of hegemony. Semiotica, 2009, xx - xx. [forthcoming]) (both co-written with Peeter Selg) I elaborate the model of this theoretical approach, using the discourse of the Bronze Night and the Singing Revolution as the analysis material.
Paper 4 (Hegemooniline tähistamisprotsess fotograafias [Hegemonic process of signification in photograph]. Kunstiteaduslikke uurimusi. 2009, XX-XX [forthcoming]) tries to distinguish some of the signification practices of the visualisation of power by examining the hegemonic signifying strategies that were used in creating “the people” in the public picture-producing regime during the Stalinist period. The paper also makes use of Barthes’ semiotic and visual rhetoric views on photography.
Paper 5 (The role of political rhetoric in the development of Soviet totalitarian language. Russian Journal of Communication, Vol. II, No. 1/2 (Winter/Spring 2009), 9-26) tries to explicate, within the created framework, the phenomenon of totalitarian language of the Soviet era.