A linguagem imagética na sociedade contemporânea: uma abordagem a partir do filme “Emoji”, de 2017

Abstract

This research aims to understand how the narratives of social thematic present in “The Emoji Movie” (2017) establish dialogue with the contemporary social interactions of the connected subject, considering the use of emojis as a language in digital communication. Based on the reflections of Fredric Jameson (1991), it starts on the idea that postmodern culture is marked by fragmentation, pastiche and the intensification of image consumption. In the context of this completely image-based society, emojis operate as signs that integrate and organize instantaneous communication experiences. Inspired by the reading of Carlos Vázquez (2002), the digital environment is interpreted as symbolic city - such as “Textopolis”, in the film —, where cultural, affective and identity flows intersect, are standardized and reconfigured. Based on Flusser (1983), Hall (1997), Gombrich (1999), Debord (1997) and Baudrillard (1981), the research articulates a qualitative, interpretative and descriptive approach (Minayo, 1992), centered on the audiovisual analysis of the film, according to the methods of Feldman (1993) and Penafria (2001). The results reveal that emojis not only represent emotions, but also produce meanings, regulate interactions and participate in symbolic disputes in environments mediated by technology. More than superficial modes of expression, emojis constitute forms of communication based on coded visual expressions and translate the paradoxes of the network society (Castells, 1999). Thus, the study proposes a critical reading of emojis as imagistic forms of existing, feeling and communicating in the contemporary digital era.