Nuclear Holocaust as Vector: Separating Story from Meaning

Disinfolklore takes as its subject this dual structure: Vectors (the stories); and Meanings (what those vectors are communicating). Russian Disinfolklore for example tries to embed fear (the meaning) through repeatedly threatening a nuclear holocaust (vector). I will try to avoid the muddled term ‘narrative’, which fuses both the story and its meaning together.

Source: Full Working Draft, Ch. 22

The nuclear holocaust threat is the defining example of how Vectors and Meanings work. The vector is the story (nuclear annihilation). The meaning is fear. The vector does not need to become real for the meaning to do its work. This is what distinguishes Disinfolklore from disinformation: the claim does not need to be true or false. It needs only to be felt.

← Previous: Nuclear Threats: Fear in the West, Enjoyment in Russia | Back to Nuclear Disinfolklore | Next: Cross-Domain Coercion: The Nuclear Umbrella Over All Russian Warfare →