The role of the visual in politics is gaining momentum in scholarly work concerned with the current social media landscape. It is widely acknowledged that the production, dissemination and consumption of visual products in the Global South is powerfully shaped by geo-politics and a power dynamics in which the Global North dominates the South (the cultural imperialism argument). However, scant attention has been paid to theoretical, methodological, and empirically grounded approaches to visual politics produced by scholars working in the Global South. Little is known about the ways in which scholarship in the Global South might challenge and resist western approaches to the study of the visual. Against this background, this project aims to examine visual politics in the Global South through theoretically driven, and empirically grounded case studies, which focus on the role of the visual in formal politics (e.g., political campaigns, the relation between state and citizens) and public and everyday politics (e.g., social movements, activism, grassroots politics, civil society initiatives). This volume examines visual politics in the Global South through theoretically driven, and empirically grounded case studies, which focus on the role of the visual in formal politics (e.g., political campaigns, the relation between state and citizens) and public and everyday politics. It will be of interest to both researchers and students interested in the study of visual politics from various disciplinary lens (media and communication, anthropology, politics, and sociology).
Author(s): Anastasia Veneti, Maria Rovisco
Series: Political Campaigning and Communication
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 345
City: Cham
Foreword: Decolonizing Visual Global Politics
References
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction to Visual Politics in the Global South
The Field of Visual Politics
Visual Politics Research and the Global South
Visual Politics and the Geopolitics of Knowledge
Book Structure
References
Part I Campaigns, Governance, and Visual Politics
2 Playing with Accents in the Khede Kasra Campaign in Lebanon: Multimodality in Visual Politics
Emplacement, Markedness, and Meaning of Public Writing
Situating the Data
Arabic and Gender Marking
Audience Engagement and Active Uptake—“Getting Things Moving”
Broader Social Engagement and Role of Social Media
Conclusion
References
3 Elections and Social Media Cultures: Politics, Women and Visuals in West Bengal, India
Visuals, Social Media and Political Campaigns: Global Intellectual Context
Research Setting: Empirical Context of the 2021 West Bengal Election
Methodological Framework and Data Processing Approach
Findings and Discussion
Extent of Representation
Frames of Self-Presentation, Five Typologies
Women and Women’s Issues
Portrayal of Political Adversaries
Presence and Absence: Religion, Personalisation and Privatisation
Conclusion
References
4 Visualizing Hegemony and Resistance: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of “Covid-19 Hero” on Chinese Social Media
Introduction
Global Visual Politics in the Era of Social Media
Critical Analysis of Multimodal Discourse
Recontextualization and Resemiotization
Zhong Nanshan: Muscle, Five-Starred Red Flag, and Gods
Li Wenliang: Mask, Mask, Mask
Discussion and Conclusion
References
5 The Visual Construction of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Populist Communication on Facebook
Introduction
Personalisation and Populism. An Approach to the Visual Study of Politics
Research and Methodology
Category 1: The “Man of the People”
Category 2: “Family Life”
Category 3: “Talking Head”
Category 4: “Professional Life”
Category 5: “Celebrities”
Conclusions
References
6 Los Pinos, a Presidential Residence: Farándula Politics and Populism 2.0 in Mexican Visual Culture
The Media System and Political Communication in Mexico
Populism and Visual Political Communication
Personalisation
Stylisation and Performance
Methods
Angélica Rivera and Farándula Populism
Farándula Populism
Girl Power (and Style)
AMLO and Populism 2.0
Populism 2.0
The Reyes Family at Los Pinos
Conclusion
References
7 Representing Change and Continuity: A Visual Analysis of Political Television Advertising for the Constitutional Plebiscite of 2020 in Chile
Introduction
Theoretical Framework
Electoral Propaganda in Chile
Forms and Uses of Political Advertising
Referential and Figurative Signification
Methodology
Results
Discussion
References
8 Mapping the Formats and Significance of Signs and Meaning in Political Campaigns in Ghanaian Elections
Introduction
The Political System in Ghana
Culture and Politics in Ghana
Semiotics and Political Marketing
Ghanaian Political Semiotics
Case Studies
Methods and Analytical Framework
Results and Discussion
Narrative Devices
Relationships Between Visual Narrative Devices
Formalisation of Narrative Signs Underscoring the Political Marketing of Candidates
Conclusion
References
Part II Activism, Citizenship and Citizen-Led Visual Communication
9 Performing the Balaclava: Feminist Aesthetics in Contemporary Chile
Introduction
The Tsunami Feminista
Turning the Balaclava into a Feminist Thing
Vibrant Feminisms: Dancing the Balaclava
Radical Subversions of the Balaclava
Afterword: The Transgressive Aesthetics of the Balaclava
References
10 Visualizing the Transversal, Parochial, and Naïve—The Artist as Citizen’s Trope
Contemporary Art Responds to Postcoloniality
Artist Responds to the “Given”
The Transversal—Cutting Across Time
The Parochial—Staged for a Laugh
Naïvety—Police Has “Too Much Power”
Conclusion
Afterword
References
11 The Visual Politics of Extractivism
Introduction
Extractivism and Ontological Battles
Extractivism in Argentina and Latin America
A Note on Methodology
Ontological Battles in the Visual Realm
Conclusion
References
12 ‘Abaixando a Máquina 2’/ ‘Lowering the Camera 2’: The Power of Professional Photojournalism in Changing the Course of the 2013 Mass Protests in Rio De Janeiro
Introduction
Visual Criminology, Visuality, and Countervisuality
Peixoto’s Photographic Series During the ‘Brazilian spring’
Image Analysis
Conclusion
References
13 Protest Images of the 2014 Gaza War in the South African Media
Introduction
Visual Media Coverage of Protests
The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict and Its Public Perception in the South African Context
Methodology
Social Semiotics
Findings
Discussion and Conclusion
References
14 The Appropriation of Visual Campaigns by the Laklãnõ People (Brazil)
Introduction
The Colonization of the Laklãnõ People—Social and Political Context
The Use of Visual Campaigns Against the Laklãnõ People
Historical Backdrop of the Laklãnõ Appropriation of the Colonizers’ Visual and Representational Devices
A Case Study of the Laklãnõ Use of Visual Campaigns—Saving Zág, the Sacred Tree
Conclusion
References
Index
