POLITICAL VIOLENCE, MEDIA, AND HOSPITALITY

FROM THE RADIO AGE TO ALGORITHMS IN 'THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA' AND 'QUALITYLAND'

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between political violence, media, and hospitality in dystopian literature, analyzing The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2005) and QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling (2020). Drawing on Pedro Doria’s (2024) reflections on the banalization of political violence, the study explores how the media structures ideological conflicts and contributes to the construction of internal enemies. Using Derrida’s (1999) concept of hospitality, it examines the transformation of hospitality into hostility in Roth’s novel, where the radio operates as a tool for spreading antisemitism. In QualityLand, the mediation of reality by algorithms illustrates how technology redefines social and political control in contemporary society. Based on authors such as McLuhan (1969), Zuboff (2021), and Bauman (1999), the article argues that political violence is not merely a reflection of leaders' discourse, but a phenomenon amplified by the media that structure communication. Finally, it questions the role of algorithms in intensifying polarization and eroding democratic autonomy.