Hopes and Fears: The Semiotics of Orchestral Music in Left- and Right-Wing Populism
Hopes and Fears: The Semiotics of Orchestral Music in Left- and Right-Wing Populism

Summary/Abstract: This article uses semiotics to study two audiovisual spots produced by populist political actors (Marine Le Pen, in France, and Unidas Podemos, in Spain) with the purpose of unveiling the multimodal discursive strategies they use. The analysis presented in the article focuses on the auditive dimension and studies how Le Pen and Unidas Podemos use orchestral music as a semiotic resource for meaning- and sense-making. The analysis proposes that the use these two political actors do of orchestral music in the analyzed spots is not random, but strategic. Moreover, it is argued that these strategic uses are aligned with recent scholarship on right- and left-wing populism: while – an example of right-wing populism – Le Pen draws on a discursive strategy aimed at provoking emotions like fear and anxiety based on exclusion, Unidas Podemos – an example of left-wing populism – uses one aimed at conveying the emotions of hope and possibility of change based on inclusion.

• Details
• Contents