A Functional Analysis of Visual and Verbal Symbols in Presidential Campaign Posters, 1828–2012

Abstract

This study analyzes American presidential campaign posters from 1828 to 2012 using the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse. It advances the theory by investigating a hitherto unexplored medium, posters; more importantly, visual elements (e.g., the bald eagle) were analyzed along with words. Acclaims were more frequent than attacks; no difference occurred in the functions of early and recent posters. Visual symbols used acclaims even more than verbal symbols. Character was a more frequent topic than policy; the relative proportion of these two topics did not change over time. Visual symbols discussed character even more than verbal symbols.

Campaign Posters In American And Russian Electoral Landscapes

“…The functions of campaign posters are discussed in the book Election Posters around the Globe (Holtz-Bacha, 2017), which contains comparative research on electoral posters from over 28 European countries, indicating similarities and establishing national differences. Benoit (2019) and Wert (2016) provided an in-depth look at American presidential election posters. Benoit (2019) employs the functional approach to conduct a longitudinal analysis of presidential posters illuminating both verbal and visual symbols.…”

“…Benoit (2019) employs the functional approach to conduct a longitudinal analysis of presidential posters illuminating both verbal and visual symbols. The research investigates both function or tone and the topic of messages (Benoit, 2019).…”

“…Campaign posters are texts that tend to incorporate verbal as well as non-verbal elements, which makes them multimodal (Benoit, 2019;Dumitrescu, 2010;Holtz-Bacha, 2017). Forceville (2016) undertook the analysis of multimodal discourses structural characteristics.…”

“…The structural elements of election posters are identified as verbal and visual modes (Benoit, 2019). Visual modes deal with the graphical arrangement of the text, including its typeface and layout, as well as its colour scheme and pictorial images.…”

“…Campaign posters are traditionally used in electoral contexts to create a favourable image of the politician or to attack the political opponents (Benoit, 2019). However, which function prevails in Russian electoral advertising and how it compares with American campaign advertising require further investigation.…”