Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.18680/hss.2020.0020
Exports for your reference manager
Framing right-wing populist satire: the case-study of Ghisberto's cartoons in Italy
[journal article]
Abstract Over the last few years, right-wing populism has increased its popularity and political weight, successfully merging with Euro-scepticism, nationalism, xenophobia, religious symbolism, and aggressive forms of conservatism (e.g., anti-feminism, homophobia, and, in general, patriarchal politics). Seve... view more
Over the last few years, right-wing populism has increased its popularity and political weight, successfully merging with Euro-scepticism, nationalism, xenophobia, religious symbolism, and aggressive forms of conservatism (e.g., anti-feminism, homophobia, and, in general, patriarchal politics). Several studies have focused on the communication strategies of contemporary populism, examining the latter’s use of traditional and new media. So far, however, little attention has been paid to the role and language of right-wing populist satire. Our study draws on the ideational approach to populism to explore how right-wing populism is expressed in satirical cartoons. This approach perceives populism as a thin-centered ideology, based on a Manichean division between 'good people' and 'evil elites,' which regularly combines with other ideological components (e.g., nationalism, Euroscepticism, xenophobia). Our analysis focuses on the Italian cartoonist Ghisberto, known for his provocative and frequently controversial work. We examine a sample of Ghisberto's vignettes using multimodal analysis tools and Greimas's notion of isotopy. The aim is to investigate how right-wing populist satire constructs its different targets (the EU, left-wingers, migrants, NGOs, women, etc.) and how populist ideology exploits cartoons' communicative resources and power.... view less
Keywords
political communication; populism; semiotics; satire; political right
Classification
Sociology of Communication, Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
right-wing populism; political cartoons; multimodal analysis; isotopy
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 29-55
Journal
Punctum: International Journal of Semiotics, 6 (2020) 2
Issue topic
Semiotics of Political Communication
ISSN
2459-2943
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0