Poster Busting in German Political Communication

Abstract

Purpose: The presented research is aimed at clarifying the definition of the concept of «Poster busting». The article presents the characteristics of protest communication, highlights and describes the main components of the political poster as an ultimate element of the election campaign as well as it shows the results of the analysis of poster busting as a practice of modern protest communication in Germany. The article considers the fundamental features of this polycode phenomenon, gives the classification of material practices of transformation of the initial poster and the mechanism of its resemiotization. The purpose of this article is determined by its inclusion in the circle of interests of the study of the protest communication.
 Method or methodology of the study. The study was conducted with the method of overall selection of empirical material from the official internet platforms. Research methods include general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, an interpretive method, content analysis. The research material was election posters.
 Results. The main practices of poster busting used as a result of resemiotization in relation to election posters are considered, the correlation between the trans-aggressive way of using practices and the formation of both a new reactive space and new discursive practices is determined, the main differential features of an election poster as a polycode text are described.
 Practical implications. The obtained results contribute to the further development of research on protest communication. The research results can be used in the basic course of applied linguistics, linguoculturology and sociolinguistics.