Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture

This article develops the concept of the metasimulacrum of otherness to analyze the structural transformations of difference in digital culture. Unlike traditional representations of otherness, the metasimulacrum reorganizes the very conditions of perception, producing otherness as a managed, aesthe...

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Main Author: Rastyam T. Aliev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Limited Liability Company Scientific Industrial Enterprise “Genesis. Frontier. Science” 2025-05-01
Series:Галактика медиа: журнал медиа исследований
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Online Access:https://galacticamedia.com/index.php/gmd/article/view/649
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author Rastyam T. Aliev
author_facet Rastyam T. Aliev
author_sort Rastyam T. Aliev
collection DOAJ
description This article develops the concept of the metasimulacrum of otherness to analyze the structural transformations of difference in digital culture. Unlike traditional representations of otherness, the metasimulacrum reorganizes the very conditions of perception, producing otherness as a managed, aestheticized, and commodified flow. Digital platforms no longer marginalize or suppress difference; they integrate it into the architecture of engagement, neutralizing its disruptive force through algorithmic formatting. Otherness becomes a preformatted stimulus—clickable, reproducible, and emotionally manageable—without preserving its political or subjective density. This dynamic is situated within a broader framework of post-symbolic coloniality, where visibility itself becomes a mechanism of control rather than liberation. The analysis traces how platforms engineer conditions in which alterity appears safe, consumable, and endlessly circulated, while any radical rupture is filtered out. The article critiques liberal hopes of visibility as empowerment, arguing that digital spectacularization of otherness demands a radical rethinking of ethical relations. It proposes an ethics of refusal—respecting the Other’s right to opacity and withdrawal from the economies of attention. Ultimately, the metasimulacrum of otherness reveals how difference is preserved not to challenge, but to stabilize the algorithmic logic of contemporary platform capitalism.
format Article
id doaj-art-871a816f58a94ffca65688b47ba837fc
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issn 2658-7734
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Limited Liability Company Scientific Industrial Enterprise “Genesis. Frontier. Science”
record_format Article
series Галактика медиа: журнал медиа исследований
spelling doaj-art-871a816f58a94ffca65688b47ba837fc2025-08-20T03:08:00ZengLimited Liability Company Scientific Industrial Enterprise “Genesis. Frontier. Science”Галактика медиа: журнал медиа исследований2658-77342025-05-017216618610.46539/gmd.v7i2.649649Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital CultureRastyam T. Aliev0Saint Petersburg State University; National Research University “Higher School of Economics”This article develops the concept of the metasimulacrum of otherness to analyze the structural transformations of difference in digital culture. Unlike traditional representations of otherness, the metasimulacrum reorganizes the very conditions of perception, producing otherness as a managed, aestheticized, and commodified flow. Digital platforms no longer marginalize or suppress difference; they integrate it into the architecture of engagement, neutralizing its disruptive force through algorithmic formatting. Otherness becomes a preformatted stimulus—clickable, reproducible, and emotionally manageable—without preserving its political or subjective density. This dynamic is situated within a broader framework of post-symbolic coloniality, where visibility itself becomes a mechanism of control rather than liberation. The analysis traces how platforms engineer conditions in which alterity appears safe, consumable, and endlessly circulated, while any radical rupture is filtered out. The article critiques liberal hopes of visibility as empowerment, arguing that digital spectacularization of otherness demands a radical rethinking of ethical relations. It proposes an ethics of refusal—respecting the Other’s right to opacity and withdrawal from the economies of attention. Ultimately, the metasimulacrum of otherness reveals how difference is preserved not to challenge, but to stabilize the algorithmic logic of contemporary platform capitalism.https://galacticamedia.com/index.php/gmd/article/view/649post-symbolic colonialitymetasimulacrumalgorithmic visibilityinterfacedigital colonialityethics of otherness
spellingShingle Rastyam T. Aliev
Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture
Галактика медиа: журнал медиа исследований
post-symbolic coloniality
metasimulacrum
algorithmic visibility
interface
digital coloniality
ethics of otherness
title Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture
title_full Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture
title_fullStr Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture
title_full_unstemmed Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture
title_short Post-Symbolic Coloniality: The Metasimulacrum of Otherness in Digital Culture
title_sort post symbolic coloniality the metasimulacrum of otherness in digital culture
topic post-symbolic coloniality
metasimulacrum
algorithmic visibility
interface
digital coloniality
ethics of otherness
url https://galacticamedia.com/index.php/gmd/article/view/649
work_keys_str_mv AT rastyamtaliev postsymboliccolonialitythemetasimulacrumofothernessindigitalculture