Editor Words
Authors:   Sofia University ", Mavrodieva Ivanka ,   St. Kliment Ohridski"
Published: April 2024

Editor Words DOI 10.55206/EBMA3053 Prof. Dr Ivanka Mavrodieva, DSc Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Email: mavrodieva@phls.uni-sofia.bg Issue 59 (April 2024) of the Rhetoric and Communication Journal includes eight publications, which announce the results of research, among which surveys of parliamentary rhetoric and communication, which has manifestations in media and on the Internet, in politics and in society. The section “Media and Internet Communication” brings together four articles that contribute to the derivation of concepts, the delineation of the boundaries of new fields of academic research and the renewal of the categorical and conceptual apparatus in several scientific fields, for example through the terms “media culture”, “media transformation”, “cultural software” and “infor¬mation aesthetics”, “cancel culture”, “digital oral histories”, “hybrid risks and threats”. Simeon Vassilev outlines various scientific approaches to the definition of the term “media culture”; he presents theories, concepts, approaches and ad¬vo¬cates the need for a coherent theory of media transformation and media culture; the author draws conclusions about the phenomenon of media culture as a social practice. Desislava Dobreva explores a topic that is characterized by topicality and social sensitivity and examines the notion of “cancel culture”; she studies the phenomenon theoretically and historically; the author analyses current events and identifies rhetorical aspects in this specific virtual communication. Nikolina Ivanova-Bell examines the development of digital oral histories, as well as the opportunities they offer in the field of university education and academic libraries; on the basis of analyses she establishes the potential for enriching research and teaching experience in an academic environment. Andrey Velchev examines hybrid warfare from an interdisciplinary perspective; he analyses the role of the media and the Internet; the author presents the activities of institutions in identifying and neutralising hybrid threats, and in formulating and implementing strategic tasks regarding hybrid warfare. In the section “Political Communication and Parliamentary Rhetoric” two articles are included; they are written on the basis of a theoretical observation and include results of research into concepts in the fields of political science, political communication and parliamentary rhetoric in contemporary Bulgaria. Atanas Zhdrebev’s publication is devoted to populism; he discusses Takis Papas’s concept of populism as democratic illiberalism; the author gives examples of contemporary political phenomena and processes from different countries. Sofia-Nikol Nikolova examines the argumentation and rhetorical figures used by MPs during debates on significant domestic political issues and votes of no confidence and presents the results of an analysis of parliamentarian rhetoric in the 49th National Assembly in Bulgaria. The issue has a section “Contemporary Studies” in which there are options for presenting not only books, but also their contributions at the theoretical, methodological and research levels. The review of Professor Danail Danov’s book “Foundations of Media Pedagogy. A guide to the world of digital culture and its tools” is metaphorically entitled “a guide to the digital modus vivendi” by Simeon Vassilev. Professor Angel Angelov introduces Radeya Gesheva’s book “Enigmas and Paradigms in Some Twentieth-Century Italian Women Writers”. Prof. Dr. Ivanka Mavrodieva is a lecturer in rhetoric, argumentation, PR and virtual communication at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She is the author of 15 books (including “Virtual rhetoric: from diaries to social networks”, “Political rhetoric in Bulgaria: from rallies to Web 2.0 (1989 - 2012)”, “Rhetoric and Public Re¬lations”, “Online Course on Rhetoric”) and 120 articles. Her research interests are in the fields of contemporary rhetoric, virtual communication, argumentation, PR and business communication. Rhetoric and Communications Journal, issue 59, April 2024 Read the Original in Bulgarian and English