Critique-Form, Forms of Critique: The Different Dimensions of the Discourse of Discontent

Abstract

This paper seeks to analyse the role played by the various formal dimensions of a critique in its effectuation. In order to do so, we draw on a set of different fieldwork studies, coordinated by a framework of typologies of these dimensions. On the one hand, we explore the critiques made by residents of a Rio de Janeiro favela concerning the power company that began to operate more intensively in the local area after installation of a Police Pacification Unit (UPP). On the other hand, we analyse how critiques can be operated in a joking way, both modulated - that is, continuously adjusted to avoid critical moments - and accusatory, as observed primarily in posters from the 2013 and 2014 political demonstrations that employed humour to mock the political situation of the country. This approach allowed us to understand the key elements of the critique-form, which in turn enabled us to design a typology of 15 relevant dimensions for the critique to be realized,- distributed between metamoral, aesthetic and logical dimensions.

Levels of critique in models and concepts of human information behaviour research

“…All in all, supporting the view of Werneck and Loretti (2018), the findings suggest that independent of the level of depth, critiques are based on the discourse of discontent. Discontent is expressed when the critic identifies a gap in research, finds ambiguity in a concept or doubts that a model is too narrow to capture the richness of HIB phenomena.…”

“…From the perspective of social sciences, critique can generally be understood as the discourse of discontent (Werneck and Loretti, 2018). There is a small number of studies examining the features of critique presented in diverse domains of research such as sociology, management science and psychology.…”

The Force of Grace, the Grace of Force: Joking Critique of Figures of Urban Violence on the Covers of a Tabloid Newspaper as the Violentization of Public Discourse

“…In various works I have shown the role played by joking discourse in the construction and recognition of critiques (WERNECK, 2016a), both privately or in face-to-face interactions (WERNECK, 2015a) and publicly (WERNECK and LORETTI, 2018). In Werneck (2019), I demonstrated how the deployment of a humorous register as a platform for critique helps construct a singular observer capable of effectuating (WERNECK, 2012a(WERNECK, , 2022b the critique through a reduction to the ridiculous without the need to comply with the rationalist protocol of providing proof THÉVENOT, 2020[1991]), thereby ratifying the idea of a transitory truth (NIELSEN, 01/04/2019) to be accepted without objectivist evaluations.…”

“…Based on the perception of this movement that implicates the three main actants in the sample, I was able to define a matrix of formal elements (WERNECK and LORETTI, 2018) characterizing these actants of urban violence. Setting out from central competences, observed in negative (WATSON, 2015) throughout the universe of tabloid covers and definitive of how each one would ideally be, it was possible to perceive the distinctions made between each and highlight other determinant characteristics.…”

“…Analysed next was the formal matrix (WERNECK and LORETTI, 2018) involved in the construction of these comic allusions in terms of humorous devices in the various elements of the lead stories (headlines, subheadings, photos, illustrations, captions and so on). Finally, the analysis observed the forms of critique specifically directed at each of the actants in these comic discourses.…”