This paper concentrates on the online communication of the Estonian extreme right that seems to be characterized by an echo-chamber effect and enclosed meaning-making. The discussion mainly relies on the theoretical frameworks based on semiotics of culture. One of the goals of the study is to widen the scope of understanding of auto-communicative processes that are usually related to learning, insight, and innovation. The paper demonstrates the conditions in which auto-communicative processes result in closed interactions, based on reproducing stereotypes and redundant content. We explicate antithetical meaning-making, an orientation towards normative (“correct”) texts and the prevalence of phatic communication as the main dominants that guide the closed auto-communication. Our case study is about the discussion that emerged in the context of the European refugee crisis that started in spring 2015.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.