scholarly journals Power and satire in the front-page images of Mariano Rajoy: visual motifs as political humour

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-91
Author(s):  
Manuel Garin ◽  
Daniel Pérez-Pamies
Keyword(s):  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Front Page ◽  
The Public ◽  
Printed Media ◽  
Procedural Approach ◽  
Contemporary Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Visual Depiction ◽  
Visual Motif

This article explores the use of photography and visual motifs as forms of political humour in contemporary media. By studying the representation of former Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy in the front pages of three Spanish newspapers (El Mundo, El País and La Vanguardia) between 2011 and 2017, the paper identifies and questions the liaisons between power and satire present in the so-called “serious” press, focusing on how different photographic traits concerning layout, composition and gestures reflect ideological choices. This photographic satire developed by printed media is then framed within a figurative tradition that goes back to Spanish royal portraiture, from Velázquez to Goya, which employs common strategies for the visual depiction of power, including satirical and humorous attributes to push specific political agendas. This examination, based on the quantified study and the visual analysis of more than 7,500 front pages, is part of the national research project Visual Motifs in the Public Sphere: Production and Circulation of Images of Power in Spain, 2011-2017. In order to determine a useful procedural approach to satirical expressions in photographs, defining which front pages invoke a remarkable satirical content, this article also presents a comparative study and a categorisation based on formal (im)balances related to the concepts of visual motif and humour.

State contestations in constructions of 1Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
Mary Varghese ◽  
Kamila Ghazali
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Public ◽  
Malaysian Population ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article seeks to contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the relationship between political discourse and national identity. 1Malaysia, introduced in 2009 by Malaysia’s then newly appointed 6th Prime Minister Najib Razak, was greeted with expectation and concern by various segments of the Malaysian population. For some, it signalled a new inclusiveness that was to change the discourse on belonging. For others, it raised concerns about changes to the status quo of ethnic issues. Given the varying responses of society to the concept of 1Malaysia, an examination of different texts through the critical paradigm of CDA provide useful insights into how the public sphere has attempted to construct this notion. Therefore, this paper critically examines the Prime Minister’s early speeches as well as relevant chapters of the socioeconomic agenda, the 10th Malaysia Plan, to identify the referential and predicational strategies employed in characterising 1Malaysia. The findings suggest a notion of unity that appears to address varying issues.

Speaking sincerely: public reactions to the death of Diana

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Tony Blair ◽  
The Public ◽  
British Prime Minister ◽  
The Public Sphere

This article explores some aspects of public speaking in the mediated public sphere by examining the verbal tributes offered by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, by the Queen and by Earl Spencer in the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. It considers some of the linguistic properties of these three public utterances, but focuses mainly on the ways in which they were assessed by members of ‘the public’, in order to explore possible changes to the discursive character of the public sphere.1

scholarly journals Events At Maidan Nezalezhnosti Of Ukraine In Autumn 2013 – Winter 2014 (In View Of Different Ukrainian And Russian Printed Media)

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Vakulych ◽  
Igor Sharov
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Front Page ◽  
The Public ◽  
Personal Attitude ◽  
Printed Media ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Future Vision ◽  
The Voice ◽  
The Russian Language

Abstract The article deals with some peculiarities of highlighting sociopolitical events in Ukraine in autumn 2013 and in winter 2014 by some leading Ukrainian and Russian printed mass media and their personal attitude concerning the course of these events. Sociopolitical situation that was created in Ukraine at the end of 2013 proved that sizable gap between the public and power holders’ conscience, progress and regression. The discrepancies in the future vision of geopolitical location of Ukraine led to the mass protests that started in November 2013. The events that took place in the night from 29th to 30th of November and during January - February 2014 made the front page of all mass media, both Ukrainian and foreign, and those of the Russian Federation in particular. Great attention to highlighting the Ukrainian events during autumn 2013 and winter 2014 was paid by the journalists of the leading media, such as P. Beba, K. Matsehora, Y. Medunitsia, V. Protsyshyn – reporters of the central Executive body newspaper “Uriadovyi Kurier” (translated as “the governmental messenger”); O. Kucheriava, S. Lavreniuk – the newspaper of Verkhovna Rada “Holos Ukrainy” (translated as “the voice of Ukraine”); E. tor of Haladzhyi, D. Deriy, O. Dubovyk – the Ukrainian Russian-language newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraini” (translated as “the komsomol truth in Ukraine”); P. Dulman, E. Hrushyn – the Russian language newspaper “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” (translated as “the Russian gazette”); A. Zakharova – the Ukrainian Russian-language newspaper “Segodnia” (translated as “today”). At the same time the events related to the sociopolitical protests that were covered in all mass media had some tonal marking: positive to the authority, negative to the authority, negative to the opposition, reserved to the opposition, negative to MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs), positive to MIA, negative and positive to the participants of the mass protests, neutral, etc.

scholarly journals Agencja rządowa jako pracodawca

2018 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 43-56
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Górnicz-Mulcahy
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Commercial Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Broad Meaning ◽  
External Entity

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES PERFORM PUBLIC TASKS ON THEIR OWN BEHALF AND ON THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITYIn the broad meaning, government agencies have the status of an administrative offi ce, a commercial law company or a state legal entity. This means that government agencies are employers which operate in the public sphere. They are separate legal entities, that are represented by their bodies. Executive organs and managers of the agency may be their Presidents, Chiefs or Directors who are legally authorized to represent them and, on the basis of labour law, to perform activities in this fi eld Article 3 of the Labour Code. The public administration body, equipped with the competence to appoint the President, the Chief or the Director of a government agency is the Prime Minister or the competent minister. This means that the appointment of a specifi c person to perform the function of the agency’s body is not made by the employing entity i.e. the employer, but by an external entity, which is the primal body located outside the employer’s structure.

scholarly journals Speakers (European/Global Public Sphere)

10.34778/2zk ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Lichtenstein
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Research Question ◽  
News Story ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Priority Rules ◽  
The Public ◽  
National Quality ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Eu

In research on the transnationalization of the public sphere, speakers are coded in claim analysis (Adam, 2007; Koopmans & Statham, 2010) and in research on European identity (Lichtenstein & Eilders, 2015, 2019). Speakers are politicians, societal actors or journalists who are given voice in a news story. In claim analyses, a speaker directs, for instance, a thematic demand or decision towards another actor. In research on European identity, speakers address an EU frame in a news story. The variable “speaker” provides a broad categorization of the first or most important speaker in an article. He or she is more precisely classified using further variables which target the actors’ degree of organization, his or her country of origin and his or her more detailed function within the EU or other international institutions.   Field of application/theoretical foundation: In research on the transnationalization of the public sphere, speakers are coded to measure interactions between countries (horizontal transnationalization) and to analyze the extent to which EU actors get a voice in the coverage of national media outlets (vertical transnationalization). They are also coded to analyze to which extent civil society actors are heard compared to politicians. The share of EU and international speakers differs between countries, media outlets, and policy fields. In research on European identity the variable additionally enables to differentiate between the kinds of speakers who are given a voice in the collective construction of European identity.   References/combination with other methods of data collection: Content analyses that examine the claims of speakers in transnational public spheres has been combined with interview studies with journalists, politicians, and interest groups (Koopmans & Statham, 2010).   Example study: Koopmans & Statham (2010)   Information on Koopmans & Statham, 2010 Authors: Ruud Koopmans, Paul Statham Research question/research interest: Analysis of the visibility of the EU level in the transnational public sphere, the inclusiveness of public demands, and public contestation regarding EU decision making Object of analysis: National quality newspaper, popular press, regional papers from seven countries Timeframe of analysis: 1990–2002   Information about variable Variable name/definition: speakers “If a claim has more than one actor (e.g., a coalition), the following priority rules apply: 1) actors mentioned in the article as 'leaders', 'organizers', 'spokespersons', etc. have priority, unless, of course, they do not make any claims; 2) organizations, institutions or representatives thereof (e.g., 'National Organization of Peasants') have priority over unorganized collectivities or individuals (e.g., 'peasants', 'farmer X'); 3) active actors or speakers have priority over passive audiences/rank-and-file participants (e.g., if a party representative addresses a crowd at a peace rally, the party representative has priority). If there are several actors or no actor at all who have priority according to these three criteria, the order in which they are mentioned in the article decides (with, again, the main headline as the start of the article). If of one physical actor two functions are mentioned, the highest level capacity in terms of the scope variable (see below) is coded. E.g., if the article says “Portuguese prime minister and current Chair of the EU Presidency Guttierez” would be code as “EU presidency” even if Portuguese prime minister would be mentioned first. However, the precondition would be that the EU presidency function is really mentioned in the article - that you know that the Portuguese prime minister is present Chair of the Council is not decisive, it should be explicitly mentioned. (…) Only if two capacities are at the same scope level the rule is that the first mentioned is coded.” (Koopmans, 2002, p. 24; https://europub.wzb.eu/Data/Codebooks%20questionnaires/D2-1-claims-codebook.pdf) Level of analysis: Claim Scale level: Nominal Reliability: 84%   References Koopmans, R. & Statham, P. (2010) (Eds.). The Making of a European Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

scholarly journals Værk, offentlighed, (net)arkiv. Transformationen af det litterære felt i medialiseringens tidsalder og hvordan vi sikrer det for eftertiden

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 244
Author(s):  
Thomas Hvid Kromann
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Literary Field ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Printed Media ◽  
The Public Sphere

Thomas Hvid Kromann: The literary work, the public sphere, (net)archive – transformation of the literary field in the mediatisation age and how we save it for posterity The article examines the ongoing transformation of the Danish literary field: what consequences does technological development in particular have for the concept of the literary work, the (literary) public sphere and for the possibilities for storing digital platforms that house both literary works, which are not associated with the printed media, and discussion forums on the internet? The author Caspar Eric’s publications are used as a case for a contemporary expansion of the concept of the literary work, since Eric’s work is not limited to the printed media, but also includes writing experiments, which he publishes on digital platforms in parallel with the official printed versions. The article argues that Eric’s publications in an extended literary field, indicate a need for a thorough reassessment of our delimitations of a literary work. Connected to the expansion of the public sphere, one finds a levelling of literary criticism, partly connected to the rise of social media. Based on the now closed sites Litlive and Promenaden the limits and possibilities of this tendency are examined. Finally, the article discusses the existing conditions for archiving these sites in order to save them for posterity, and it is reasoned that literary research within contemporary literature, beneficially, should include the archiving of literary source material.

scholarly journals Iconography of the corpse in the public sphere. Presence and absence of the dead body in times of pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 433-447
Author(s):  
Fran Benavente-Burian ◽  
Santiago Fillol ◽  
Glòria Salvadó-Corretger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Dead Body ◽  
Anthropological Perspective ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Dead ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Visual Motif

In this article, we examine the visual motif of the corpse and its presence in the public sphere in times of pandemic from an iconographic, political and anthropological perspective. Through the analysis of the representation of the dead body in images presented by modern media, we reflect on how the formal and iconographic schemes of presentation of death were transformed following the irruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. The pandemic scheme, which is unusual from a political and anthropological perspective, assumes a particular approach to the problem of the representation of the dead body (anonymous body, carrier of a virus), encrypted in a dialectic between systematic omission and censorship and displacement of the representation of death towards the cumulative symmetry of empty pits or coffins that prefigure the corpse to come. Pandemic iconography, often based on science fiction imagery, outlines the dehumanized restlessness of a dystopian future. Under these exceptional conditions, some corpses, which are a priori anonymous, stand out, showing, even in the suspended space of Covid-19, the permanence of structural schemes of violence that must be denounced and fought in the present. With that in mind, we also examine the corpses claimed by Black Lives Matter and their distinctive representations, which are very different from those of the victims of the epidemic. Finally, through these references and based on the media treatment of Diego Armando Maradona’s body, we consider the significance of the return of the iconic corpse to the center of the public sphere, which imposes a regime of extreme visibility and goes beyond the representative limits of pandemic exceptionality.

scholarly journals Iconographies of the present. Political populism, economic instability and migratory crisis in «Years and Years» (BBC and HBO, 2019)

2021 ◽  
pp. 281-296
Author(s):  
Teresa Sorolla-Romero
Keyword(s):  
The Public ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Press ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
The Media ◽  
Collective Imagination ◽  
Contemporary Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Aby Warburg

In its six episodes, the British series Years and Years (2019) calls on images that resonate in the collective imagination of the contemporary media, although some of them have their roots in visual motifs with a strong tradition in Western visual culture. In this article, we attempt to identify these images, representing the political conflicts, social tensions, ecological disasters, and economic uncertainties of the end of the 2010s and beginning of the 2020s, and analyse their transfer from the media to television fiction. Among the references and other motifs analysed are images from the realm of contemporary photography appearing in the press and, for example, at the prestigious World Press Photo event. But an earlier pictorial and cinematographic tradition shows the survival of these visual motifs in the images from Years and Years, interweaving the public sphere with television fiction. Methodologically, we draw on contemporary image theory, including the legacy of Aby Warburg and Walter Benjamin, and textual analysis rooted in semiotics. The visual motifs analysed crystallise around the social unease and humanitarian disasters unleashed by economic and migratory crises, the banalisation of politics in the media, the threat of authoritarian populism and the stylisation of images of war. They include the allegory of freedom and representations of popular revolt and hard times.

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