La institucionalización de caviar: de la deslegitimación a la deshumanización en el discurso en línea de funcionarios del gobierno peruano; [L’institutionnalisation de caviar: de la délégitimation à la déshumanisation dans le discours en ligne des fonctionnaires du gouvernement péruvien]; [A institucionalização do caviar: da deslegitimação à desumanização no discurso online dos funcionários do governo peruano]

Torres-Vásquez L. · Lengua y Sociedad (2026) · DOI: 10.15381/lengsoc.v25i1.31866

Resumen

This paper analyzes the institutionalization of caviar, a word with multivalent connotations used in Peru, in the online discourse of Peruvian government officials (PGOs). From a critical discourse studies perspective, this qualitative study explores spoken and written text in a corpus created by collecting PGOs use of the word caviar as displayed by themselves or as reported by media on X (formerly Twitter). This study highlights that although the word caviar shares similar traits with (cyber)terruquer, it should be seen as the next stage of elite or hegemonic ideologies manifested through discourse to discredit, ostracize and dehumanize not only political rivals or particular social groups, but anyone who dares to challenge the government and its allies in the establishment. This research concludes that the use of caviar by former President Boluarte, her ministers and far-right congresspeople not only legitimizes the use of this inflammatory terminology, but it escalates the dichotomy from us vs. them to us vs. "the enemies of Peru". With an ever-changing definition, caviar and its collocations (mafia caviar, casta caviar, maquinaria caviar, etc.) may be anyone, anything or everyone who is a perceived threat to the status quo; thus, these PGOs' call for their elimination. These insights are relevant to the underlying mechanisms through which delegitimizing/dehumanizing discourses can be spread and potentially lead to harmful actions. This research contributes to the study of online political discourse practices that (re)produce hateful terminology to govern unquestioned or manipulate the general public, while using X as an echo chamber of societal interactions.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas