This study undertakes a multimodal framing analysis of the Obidient movement in Nigeria,with a view to exposing how Internet memes are deployed to advertise Peter Obi,the presidential candidate of the Labour Party(LP)...This study undertakes a multimodal framing analysis of the Obidient movement in Nigeria,with a view to exposing how Internet memes are deployed to advertise Peter Obi,the presidential candidate of the Labour Party(LP)in Nigeria's 2023 election.Forty memes were purposively sampled from Nigerian WhatsApp platforms and data were analysed qualitatively using aspects of Kress and van Leeuwen(2006.Reading images:The grammar of visual design,2nd edn.London:Routledge)grammar of visual design and Kuypers(2002.Press bias and politics:How the media frame controversial issues.Westport,CT:Praeger,2009.Framing analysis.In Kuypers Jim(ed.),Rhetorical criticism:Perspectives in action,181-204.London:Lexington Books)rhetorical framing analysis.The findings reveal that the meme producers employed contextual variables such as labels,metaphors,visuals,salience and keywords to frame Peter Obi,the Obidient movement and the LP as a valid alternative in the presidential election.The study also shows the deployment of semiotic concepts such as salience,social distance,attitude and framing to positively represent the Obidient movement and Obi.The study concludes that the text producers deploy memes to portray the Obidients and the Labour Party presidential candidate as victims of an incredible electoral process,and that the memes are created to reveal broader socio-cultural realities,especially the predominance of religious and ethnic politics in the Nigerian context.展开更多
文摘This study undertakes a multimodal framing analysis of the Obidient movement in Nigeria,with a view to exposing how Internet memes are deployed to advertise Peter Obi,the presidential candidate of the Labour Party(LP)in Nigeria's 2023 election.Forty memes were purposively sampled from Nigerian WhatsApp platforms and data were analysed qualitatively using aspects of Kress and van Leeuwen(2006.Reading images:The grammar of visual design,2nd edn.London:Routledge)grammar of visual design and Kuypers(2002.Press bias and politics:How the media frame controversial issues.Westport,CT:Praeger,2009.Framing analysis.In Kuypers Jim(ed.),Rhetorical criticism:Perspectives in action,181-204.London:Lexington Books)rhetorical framing analysis.The findings reveal that the meme producers employed contextual variables such as labels,metaphors,visuals,salience and keywords to frame Peter Obi,the Obidient movement and the LP as a valid alternative in the presidential election.The study also shows the deployment of semiotic concepts such as salience,social distance,attitude and framing to positively represent the Obidient movement and Obi.The study concludes that the text producers deploy memes to portray the Obidients and the Labour Party presidential candidate as victims of an incredible electoral process,and that the memes are created to reveal broader socio-cultural realities,especially the predominance of religious and ethnic politics in the Nigerian context.
