„Man muss nicht immer gleich losprusten“ – Die Abwesenheit von Emotion als Kommunikationsstrategie der Marke Merkel
“You don’t always have to burst out” – The Absence of Emotions as a Communication Strategy of the Brand Merkel

Summary/Abstract: Emotions are a central means of generating attention and thus help to generate and extend power of political actors. The example of Angela Merkel shows that the reversal, i.e. the renunciation of emotions, can also be a successful communication strategy. In contrast to the ideal type of the charismatic politician, the core of the ‘brand Merkel’ is the staging of non-staging. With an evaluation of two corpora, journalistic portraits on the one hand and her own statements made in interviews on the other, the ‘brand Merkel’ is illuminated from two perspectives. In particular, her handling of emotions illustrates the interlocking of self-image and external image, which is made possible by taking up and reinterpreting criticism.

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