“Who killed Diego?”: scalar projections in onlineOffline semiotic landscapes

ABSTRACT

This article investigates scalar projections in onlineOffline semiotic landscapes, in which meanings about the murder of a gay and black student, Diego Machado, on a university campus are located and performed. Especially, it historicizes ‘the spirit of our socially fascist times’ that accentuates the discourses about which bodies are allowed to live and which must die. Such historicization operates as a backdrop against which particular scalar semiotic exercises, indexically marked, are made possible. In concluding, the article argues for the need of theorizing hope as emotion, enabling perennial resistance, in response to our ethical responsibility.

Keywords:
scales; semiotic landscapes; indexicality; gay; race; hope.