Diskursoloijas

Diskursoloijas is a term used in discourse studies to describe a form of public communication in which a single author crafts a coherent, personal narrative that circulates outside formal institutions and mainstream media channels. The word blends the Lithuanian roots diskursas (discourse) and soloija (solitariness), signaling solitary authorship within a broader public sphere.

Diskursoloijas arose in Baltic and Nordic media studies during the late 2010s to describe phenomena observed in blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and microblogging where solitary voices help shape public conversation without traditional editorial oversight.

Core features of Diskursoloijas include solitary authorship, narrative cohesion around a central experience or belief, and diffusion across multiple non-institutional platforms. The discourse typically foregrounds experiential knowledge, affective tone, and first-person authority, and it often invites audience participation through comments, shares, or collaborative remixes.

Scholars study Diskursoloijas to understand how such voices interact with established discourses, whether they reinforce or challenge power hierarchies, and how credibility is negotiated in the absence of formal institutions. Methods include discourse analysis, narrative analysis, and digital ethnography.

The concept is debated: supporters argue that Diskursoloijas enlarges public repertoires and makes marginalized perspectives audible, while critics caution that solitary discourses can obscure structural issues, blur accountability, and contribute to fragmentation or misinformation.

See also: counterpublics, participatory culture, digital rhetoric, micro-celebrity.