Ritualization of Public Relations Communications in Postmodern Society: Theoretical Aspect

Abstract

<p class="xfmc1"><em>The article <strong>objective</strong> is to theoretically substantiate the preconditions and consequences of the ritualization of public relations communications in a postmodern society.</em><em></em></p><p class="xfmc1"><strong><em>Research methodology.</em></strong><em> </em><em>In order to achieve the objective of the research, the following methods are used: descriptive, analysis and synthesis method, systematization and generalization to discern the main scientific approaches to the study of ritual as a social and communicative phenomenon to identify parameters for ritual and PR communication; comparative and historical method is implied to determine the regularities of genesis and interaction of ritual and PR communication in public space; structural and functional method is applied to identify the functions of ritual in public relations communications under conditions of postmodern society.</em></p><p class="xfmc1"><strong><em>Results.</em></strong><strong><em> </em></strong><em>One of the prerequisites for ritualization of public relations communications is the genetic kinship of ritual and PR through their entrenchment in public space. PR technologies effectively exploit the potential of ritual as a means of structuring reality, and ritualization in postmodern PR communications becomes one of the mechanisms of creating simulated hyper reality. The negative consequences of ritualization in public relations are formalization and dumbing down of communication processes, which lead to loss of public confidence and can have a negative impact on the quality of society development. At the same time, under conditions of information environment saturation, the effectiveness of PR enhances the ritual communication techniques: reducing the level of critical perception through the appeal to the primary structures of archetype, preponderance of the non-verbal component over the verbal one, showmanship and periodicity of exposure.</em></p><p><strong><em>Novelty.</em></strong><em> </em>The novelty of the research lies in the substantiation of theoretical bases, including the preconditions and consequences of ritualization of communications of public relations in post-modern society.<em></em></p><p><strong><em>The practical significance</em></strong><em> of the research is in the possibility of implementation of theoretical concepts of the article in a field of research in the different spheres of social communications, such as </em><em>public relations.</em><em></em></p><p class="xfmc1"><strong><em>Key</em></strong><strong><em> </em></strong><strong><em>words: </em></strong><em>ritual, ritualization, social communications, postmodern, public relations, myth.</em></p><div> </div>