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Section 6. Political science
Section 6. Political science
Kosyak Yaroslav Olegovich, Drahomanova National Pedagogical University at Kiev, Postgraduate Department of Political Science E-mail: pschy@mail.ru
Political Myth and virtual space: interaction in modern society peculiarities
Abstract: The article deals with the problem of interaction between virtual space and political myths in modern society. On the one hand, the myth-making today is seen as a method of modeling new virtual realities. On the other, the variety of technological means and digital technology deepen the separation of the illusory and the real world and create a unique mythological space. This defines the role of virtuality environment, as a specific ground for the creation of political myths.
Keywords: political myth, mythmaking, virtuality, manipulation.
Topicality. In today’s world the mythmaking has become quite widespread. Myth becomes a means of technology management, manipulation, influence in different spheres of society. Myths are created, based not on indyvidual, but mass consciousness, the so-called crowd effect. Moreover the thoughts of G. Lebon seem to be fair and true that the crowd “never seeks the truth, but turns away from the evidence that it does not like, preferring to worship delusion, as only delusion attracts it. Who can become part of the crowd in thought easily becomes its master; who does not want it, always gets to be its victim” [1, 188].
The technology of political mythmaking is based on the fact that it (the myth) should reflect the features of psychological expectations of the crowd and not reality. Thus, spontaneous mythmaking is replaced by conscious myth construction whose purpose is not to explain reality, but build a new illusion. This is clearly demonstrated by researchers using the analysis of materials of mass culture and political advertising (N. Thomas, G. Pocheptsov, S. Samokhvalova, V Fesenko, etc.).
However, the myth itself has signs of reality. We agree with the opinion of I. Zaharchenko that «using the means developed in the methodology of modern political science it is necessary to reveal the illusory nature of modern myth and its deconstructing function on political awareness and political life and, simultaneously, to display the contents of the myth as an aspect of reality» [2, 18].
In modern life there is a total tangle of real and virtual worlds, the real things and actions are replaced by images and simulations in almost all areas. For example, in the economy the market of real goods and services is replaced by advertising images of products and manufacturers; political powers struggle with each other in a political race of personal images; everyday communication between people is
transformed into a virtual communication through various technologies based on the use of images and actual experience of communication. Virtual reality acquires the features and functions of the medium of communication and socialization, but not always people that «live» in a virtual reality are conscious of a way out of it, and even recognize that it is conditional.
The issue of virtual reality, the idea of «a better world» goes deeper into history. The prerequisites for its occurrence can be considered the ancient human dream of freedom from the physical shell, which was perceived by some as a barrier to exercise their desires and fantasies. It is human nature to stay not only in the natural environment. Mankind has created its own artificial world from its inception. And this artificial world became the natural place of human habitation. The driving force of this process was to improve the conditions of human life, to make it easier, more comfortable and safer. We agreeing with the view of T. Parsons, who noted that «this created reality — a fictional virtual reality — might make unrealistic dreams come true: release you from everyday life, help with the transition to other worlds, allows you to possess supernatural powers and abilities» [3, 24].
The impact of virtuality is that it gives a person something that has not been able to give no religion, no ideology, no war, no revolution or reform. Virtuality frees man from the conditionality of everyday relations, social control, guilt, requirements and circumstances arising from the usual, stereotypical descriptions of cognitive and value operationalization of the social world. In this context the comment by T. Parsons is regarded fair and just — “Virtuality — is always an invitation to become the subject (God, man, player, individual, superman, hero, winner, etc.) to make yourself the subject, as if up to this point there has not been a single subject or the previous subject was defective or flawed” [4, 48-49].
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Political Myth and virtual space: interaction in modern society peculiarities
The special attention to desire as a unifying link between production and consumption and the incredible development of tools and technologies for creating virtual reality (computer hardware and its software, high-speed videography, quadrosound equipment, the improvement of the technology generation and manipulation with the three-dimensional graphics, the use of computer cybernetic technology in processing video and sound in film and television industry, the operation of the Internet, etc.) provided a key role to virtuality in the implementation of politics and creation of political myths.
Virtuality and its audiovisual images as the leading form of influence allows the easiest way to overcome the threshold of critical thinking through the effect of consciousness information overload. Much of the structured information is supplied by the audio-visual images, unexpected, radical ideas or unintended consequences of the sudden use, lack of time to reflect new information and correlate it with the real state of things, to inclusion of human desire to experience and get benefits from the fact which was seen as a unique, interesting or necessary information — all ofwhich pushes the individual to uncritical acceptance of ideas that determine the legitimacy of the desired legit subject policy direction.
However, the very suggestion of virtuality for you to become someone turns the individual into an object that is constructed in his desires and actions of actors of the legit policy. Thus, when confronted with a virtual, the subject always dies when it becomes a television image or begins to act as a con-sumer/voter imposed by virtuality scenarios. Underlying the legit virtual force is simple (availability) perception, emotion and updating of archaic thought patterns of its permanent mechanism for dualizing true — false, sin — righteousness, strong — weak, up — down, male — female, friend — enemy, me — someone.
We share the point of view of an American scholar M. Edelman that the heroes «images» in «talk shows, TV series, sports, video games, combatants and disasters in television news through the integrated emotions (through context, intonation, emotions demonstration), provide individuals with experience filled with vivid experiences of life, forming a psychological dependence, urging better than rational arguments to assert subconscious attitude of the individual to virtuality as to the true reality of life, where there is always something going on, as opposed to natural, everyday reality, where, in contrast, almost never nothing brilliant, worthy of attention that can shake and be the subject of lively conversations, happens» [4, 61].
In his book «Constructing the Political Spectacle» M. Edelman expresses the idea that “the political process, such as TV series, sitcoms or “reality shows” are played along as a drama in virtual reality, where voting viewers are initially afraid of different threats; looking for enemies, from which the threats emanate; impose “progressive” ideas, the implementation of which should mean reform for the benefit of society. Sometimes they trigger various conflicts with the “ideological”, “fundamental” or “conceptual” issues, fighting for
the imperious weight in the state mechanism or redistribution of ‘investment subsidy’ flows concerned with the financial, commercial and industrial groups “ [5, 28].
The political spectacle is played out in virtual reality for the purpose of emotional “capture of the audience” and the formation of psychological dependence; binding to virtual politics as a way of getting acute emotional experiences of viewer-citizen-voters who have not cared about the fate of the homeland, but are watching the actions and fates of the “heroes” in a political reality show. Thus, by M. Edelman, the “political theater is a way to implement legit policy, and the viewer’s attention to the political legitimization of TV is a political system where the legitimacy of each political party or leader is determined by variables such as the authenticity of the game (or the idea of matching the image) of the political actor, the magnitude and spectacular political role (determined by the obstacles of the current situation, enemies, actual combat and opportunities for adequate responses), political strategy (concept of ethics, social base, tools, modes of action, intermediate objectives, general purpose, the future society, the ideal advocate, eternal enemy)” [5, 112-113].
Thus, in the created mythological picture of the world disappear sharp edges, contradictions, variation of their solution. Political myths through the “appropriation” of events, phenomena and processes to signs “good — bad” are built on the contrast between good and evil. This leads to the fact that the pressing social problems are not solved and are removed, allowing not only to influence public opinion, political and social construct myths, but also use them as a means of “mobilizing the electorate.” The inflexibility mythologized in the representations of the phenomenon, process or person is conditioned by the fact that they have always identified the myth with the moral ideal. So any criticism and objective analysis is meaningless as myth, combined with the moral ideal, is the highest authority of any evaluation.
A leading role in mythologizing the minds of citizens is played by the media. Relevant opinion was issued by B. Cohen that “the mass media can not successfully impose people what to think or a long time, but they are making tremendous progress, telling its readers what to think” [6, 33].
The mythmaking value of the media in creating a picture of the world has not gone unnoticed by political leaders. For example, social policy, such as the program “tough fighting crime” is easy to sell, linking it with transmitted in prime time scenes of crimes as acts committed by psychopaths or people obsessed with painful eagerness, rather than having to deal with situational determinants, poverty and unemployment. Following the course of this opinion, it is easier to sell a “war on drugs” after drug-induced death of a prominent athlete or maintain a prohibition of nuclear energy after the fatal tragedy of the nuclear reactor.
So today myth functions as new modeling method of virtual reality. Modern man does not deal with the reality of the subject as such, but simulations have mental constructs an imaginary space and associative landscapes. Blur is the
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Section 6. Political science
boundary between the fictional world and reality. And the variety of means of information technology division (photos, video, computer graphics, animation, etc.) actively enhances the illusory and the real world and allow you to create a unique
mythological space. Penetrating the public consciousness, the myth is able to stabilize/destabilize the political environment, reduce/increase the uncertainty of the political process. It all depends on the theme and purpose of the political myth.
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