postvérité

Postvérité, or post-truth, is a term used to describe a political and cultural environment in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotions and personal beliefs. It focuses on how narratives, identity, and affective responses can outrun factual accuracy in public discourse.

Origin and usage: The term gained prominence in the 2010s and was named Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year in 2016. In French-language discourse, postvérité functions as the direct translation and is used in journalism, academia, and public debate to describe similar dynamics of fact and belief.

Mechanisms: Postvérité arises from a combination of cognitive biases such as confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, the speed and reach of social media platforms, and strategic messaging that frames facts as partisan or unreliable. Misinformation and disinformation, as well as propaganda and fake news, can reinforce emotionally charged narratives and reduce trust in institutions and experts.

Impact and examples: The concept has been used to explain political campaigns and public debates where competing narratives or identities overshadow data and empirical evidence, and where the perceived legitimacy of information depends more on alignment with values than on verifiable accuracy.

Criticism: Some scholars argue that postvérité is a contested or oversimplified label for a complex information ecosystem. Others caution that it risks erasing other structural factors, such as media concentration, political polarization, or the role of interest groups.

Related terms: Misinformation, fake news, propaganda, disinformation.