The multimodal construction of political personae through the strategic management of semiotic resources of emotion expression

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an analytical framework for analyzing how multimodal resources of emotion expression are semiotically materialized in discursive interactions specific to political discourse. Interested in how political personae are emotionally constructed through multimodal meaning-making practices, our analysis model assumes an interdisciplinary perspective, which integrates facial expression analysis – using FaceReader™ software –, the theory of emotional arcs and bodily actions (hand gestures) analysis that express emotions, in the analytical framework of multimodality. The results show how the multimodal choices that political actors make during discursive interactions allow them to build their political brand and make connections with the audience on an emotional level.

KEYWORDS:

• Multimodality
• facial expression analysis
• emotional arcs
• political narratives
• political semiotics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Hedonometer or “happiness index”. Detailed information about this analysis tool can be found here: http://hedonometer.org/timeseries/en_all/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan

Nicolae-Sorin Drăgan is an Associate Professor at the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași (UAIC), and the Communication and Public Relations Faculty (FCRP), National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), Bucharest (RO). He is member-representative for Romania in the International Association for Semiotic Studies (IASS/AIS) Executive Committee – member of the IASS-AIS Executive Board. He is the founder and (co) organizer of the series of International Conferences Semiosis in Communication (once every two years), Bucharest.

Gheorghe-Ilie Fârte

Gheorghe-Ilie Fârte is an Associate professor at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași. Director of the Department of Communication Sciences and Public Relations. PhD in Philosophy (Logic). Fields of research and teaching: Logic, Communication Theories, Political Communication, and Public Relations.