The art of doing nothing, yet being everything
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52610/rhs.v18i66/67.109Keywords:
Visual rhetoric, counter-imaging, Nordic Prime Ministers, profile photos, FacebookAbstract
Politicians’ profile photos on Facebook can be seen as synthesized politics in visualized form. In this article Nordic prime ministers’ use of such profile photos are analyzed and compared as visual rhetoric. Visual elements in the photos are discussed in light of the prime ministers’ party affiliation, gender, political situation and culture. The photos’ rhetorical potential is analyzed by drawing on what researchers have claimed to be ten central functions of pictures in politics: Pictures document, argue, dramatize policy, set agendas, add ambiguity, build image, create emotions, create identification/proximity, connect to societal symbols, and transport their viewers in time and space. Less attention has been given to how pictures function as counter-images to what is commonly expected from a politician. In the article this counter-imaging is presented and discussed as a culturally complex and important addition to the list above.
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