Multimodal Texts of Political Print Advertisements in Ukraine
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Date
2022-01-25Author
Batrynchuk, Zoriana
Yesypenko, Nadia
Bloshchynskyi, Ihor
Dubovyi, Kostiantyn
Voitiuk, Olena
Yesypenko, Nadia
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Show full item recordAbstract
Political print advertisements as an integral part of political propaganda contribute to creating a positive image of a
politician or political party aiming to win popular votes. The effective combination of verbal and non-verbal
(pictorial) components presupposes a purposeful influence on the electorate by means of activating existing
socio-cultural schemas among voters. This study aims to analyze the generic structural potential of political print
advertisements in Ukraine and to interpret the symbolic representation of the verbal and non-verbal levels of political
advertisements. The data, encompassing 25 leaflets, was collected in 2020 during the local election campaign in
Chernivtsi, Ukraine. The analysis has been conducted on two levels: literal and interpretative. Following the
principles of Generic Structure Potential of advertisements (Cheong, 2004) we have outlined the GSP of print
political advertisements in Ukraine. Thus, non-verbal (visual) components incorporate the lead (Locus of Attention
(LoA) and Complement to the Locus of Attention (Comp.LoA) emblem, pictogram, verbal (linguistic) components
involve Announcement (Opening), Enhancer, Slogan, and Call-and-visit Information. The next level of the analysis
presupposed the interpretation of the obtained results. In accordance with this, the symbolic representation of the
verbal level of political advertisements, incorporating patriotic, social, economic, and political slogans has been
revealed. In terms of the symbolic representation of the non-verbal level of political advertisements, we observe the
following in the analyzed material: the photo of the candidate, appearance, pictograms, and additional pictorial
elements. The results indicate that the displays of the analyzed material are often congruent and explicit. Cases of
incongruent and implicit displays have been observed as well. Such advertisements boost viewers‟ curiosity as they
contain less verbal information. The results of the election show that the candidates whose advertisements
incorporated symbolism and greater non-verbal information, led among the popular votes.