Cover not available
Article published In:
Multimodal Argumentation: Special issue of the Journal of Argumentation in Context 13:2 (2024)
Edited by Hartmut Stöckl and Assimakis Tseronis
[Journal of Argumentation in Context 13:2] 2024
► pp. 232–259

Critical reconstructions of populist multimodal argumentation

Illustrations from right-wing parties’ Facebook posts on the Russo-Ukrainian refugee issue

 | University of Groningen
 | West University of Timișoara
 | Uppsala University
This article extends to the study of populist argumentation a framework for the analysis of inferences implicitly emerging from multimodal artifacts. The framework builds on a post-structuralist approach to populism and integrates multimodal critical discourse studies and argumentation studies, specifically the Argumentum Model of Topics. Particular emphasis is laid on the contribution of visual discourse to the process of inference-making in interrelation with verbal discourse. We illustrate the framework by examining the social media posts of three populist right-wing parties/party members from Sweden, Greece and Romania. Finally, we discuss future avenues for the analysis of populist communication practices online from the perspective we propose.
Keywords: Argumentum Model of Topics (AMT), inference in argumentation, multimodal argumentation, multimodal critical discourse studies, populism, Russo-Ukrainian war refugee issue, social semiotics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.European populist right-wing politics
    • 2.1Populism: An overview
    • 2.2The populist right-wing parties under study
  • 3.Cross-fertilizing multimodal discourse and argumentation studies: A critical perspective
    • 3.1Critical Discourse Studies
    • 3.2A social semiotic perspective
    • 3.3An addition from inference in (multimodal) argumentation
    • 3.4The novelty of the proposed approach
  • 4.A critical reconstruction of SD, HS and AUR’s multimodal argumentation
    • 4.1Corpus selection
    • 4.2The post of the Swedish SD
    • 4.3The post of the Greek HS
    • 4.4The post of the Romanian AUR
    • 4.5Discussion
  • 5.Conclusions and future avenues
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 10 September 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jaic.00029.ser
References (71)
References
Amossy, R. 2009. “The New Rhetoric’s Inheritance: Argumentation and Discourse Analysis.” Argumentation 23 (3):313–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Atkins, J., and A. Finlayson. 2013. “‘… A 40-Year-Old Black Man Made the Point to Me’: Everyday Knowledge and the Performance of Leadership in Contemporary British Politics.” Political Studies 61 (1):161–177. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, P., Gabrielatos, C. & McEnery, T. 2013. Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The Representation of Islam in the British Press. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baishya, A. 2015. “#NaMo: The Political Work of the Selfie in the 2014 Indian General Elections.” International Journal of Communication 91:1686–1700.Google Scholar
De Cleen, B., and Y. Stavrakakis. 2017. “Distinctions and Articulations: A Discourse Theoretical Framework for the Study of Populism and Nationalism.” Javnost The Public 24 (4):301–319. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doiciar, C., and R. Crețan. 2021. “Pandemic Populism: COVID-19 and the Rise of the Nationalist AUR Party in Romania.” Geographica Pannonica 25 (4):243–259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Elgenius, G. & Rydgren, J. 2017. The Sweden “Democrats and the ethno-nationalist rhetoric of decay and betrayal” sociologisk forskning 54 (4):353–358.Google Scholar
Engesser, S. et al. 2017. “Populism and Social Media: How Politicians Spread a Fragmented Ideology.” Information, Communication & Society 20 (8):1109–1126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ernst, N. et al. 2019. “Favorable Opportunity Structures for Populist Communication: Comparing Different Types of Politicians and Issues in Social Media, Television and the Press.” The International Journal of Press/Politics 24 (2):165–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fairclough, I. 2016. “Evaluating Policy as Argument: The Public Debate over the First UK Austerity Budget.” Critical Discourse Studies 13 (1):57–77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(forthcoming). Frames and Inferences. In Proceedings of the Fourth European Conference on Argumentation. Studies in Logic and Argumentation series, ed. by A. Ansani, M. Marini and F. Paglieri, 160–172. London: College Publications.
Fairclough, I., & Mădroane, I. D. 2020. An Argumentative Approach to “Framing”: Framing, Deliberation and Action in an Environmental Conflict. Co-herencia, 17 (32), 119–158. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Finlayson, A. 2018. “‘Dancing with Doxa’: A ‘Rhetorical Political Analysis’ of David Cameron’s Sense of Britishness.” In Doing Politics: Discursivity, Performativity and Mediation in Political Discourse, ed. by M. Kranert and G. Horan, 59–77. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Georgiadou, V. 2019. Η άκρα δεξιά στην Ελλάδα 1965–2018 [The Extreme Right in Greece 1965–2018]. Athens: Kastaniotis.Google Scholar
Greco Morasso, S. 2012. “Contextual Frames and Their Argumentative Implications: A Case Study in Media Argumentation.” Discourse Studies 14 (2):197–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. 1973. Explorations in the Functions of Language. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
1978. Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K., and C. M. I. M. Matthiessen. 2004. An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd ed). London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Heshmati, Bita and Ewa Modrzejewska. 2024. “How we argue about the use of images: Metavisual disputes in practice.” Journal of Argumentation in Context 13 (2):203–231.Google Scholar
Ibañez Sales, M. 2023. “The Refugee Crisis’ Double Standards: Media Framing and the Proliferation of Positive and Negative Narratives during the Ukrainian and Syrian Crises.” EuroMeSCo Policy Brief 1291.Google Scholar
Jagers, J., and S. Walgrave. 2007. “Populism as Political Communication Style: An Empirical Study of Political Parties’ Discourse in Belgium.” European Journal of Political Research 46 (3):319–345. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jungar, A-C. 2016. “The Sweden Democrats”. In Understanding Populist Party Organisation: The Radical Right in Western Europe, ed. by R. Heinish and O. Mazzoleni, 189–219. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Katsambekis, G. and A. Kioupkiolis (eds). 2019. The Populist Radical Left in Europe. London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kjeldsen, J. 2017. “The Rhetorical and Argumentative Potentials of Press Photography.” In Multimodal Argumentation and Rhetoric in Media Genres, ed. by A. Tseronis and C. Forceville, 51–80. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kreis, R. 2017. “The ‘Tweet Politics’ of President Trump.” Journal of Language and Politics 16 (4):607–618. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kress, G., and T. van Leeuwen. 2021. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design (3rd ed). London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Krzyżanowski, M. 2018. “Discursive Shifts in Ethno-Nationalist Politics: On Politicization and Mediatization of the ‘Refugee Crisis’ in Poland.” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 16 (1–2):76–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2020. “Discursive Shifts and the Normalisation of Racism: Imaginaries of Immigration, Moral Panics and the Discourse of Contemporary Right-Wing Populism.” Social Semiotics 30 (4):503–527. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krzyżanowski, M., A. Triandafyllidou, and R. Wodak. 2018. “The Mediatization and the Politicization of the ‘Refugee Crisis’ in Europe.” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 16 (1–2):1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Laclau, E. 2007. On Populist Reason. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Ledin, P., and D. Machin. 2020. Introduction to Multimodal Analysis. London: Bloomsbury. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lorenzetti, M. I. 2020. “Right-Wing Populism and the Representation of Immigrants on Social Media: A Critical Multimodal Analysis.” Iperstoria 151:59–95.Google Scholar
Machin, D., and A. Mayr. 2012. How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal Introduction. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Machin, D. 2013. “What is Multimodal Critical Discourse Studies?” Critical Discourse Studies 10(4): 347–355.Google Scholar
Mercuri, C. 2023. “Characterization Frames Constructing endoxa in Activists’ Discourse about the Public Controversy Surrounding Fashion Sustainability.” Topoi 421:635–650. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mohammed, D. 2019. “Standing Standpoints and Argumentative Associates: What Is at Stake in a Public Political Argument?” Argumentation 331:307–322. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moffit, B. 2016. The Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style, and Representation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Mouffe, C. 2005. “The ‘End’ of Politics and the Challenge of Right-Wing Populism.” In Populism and the Mirror of Democracy, ed. by F. Panizza, 72–98. London/New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Mudde, C. 2016. “The Study of Populist Radical Right Parties: Toward a Fourth Wave.” C-Rex Working Paper Series (1):1–23.Google Scholar
2017. The Far Right in America. London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mudde, C., and C. Rovira Kaltwasser. 2013. “Exclusionary vs. Inclusionary Populism: Comparing Contemporary Europe and Latin America.” Government and Opposition 48 (2):147–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. Populism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pelinka, A. 2013. “Right-Wing Populism: Concept and Typology.” In Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse, ed. by R. Wodak, M. KhosraviNik and B. Mral, 3–22. London: Bloomsbury Academic. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J. E. 2004. (Mis)Representing Islam: The Racism and Rhetoric of British Broadsheet Newspapers. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rigotti, E., and S. Greco. 2019. Inference in Argumentation: A Topics-Based Approach to Argument Schemes. Cham: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rovira Kaltwasser, C. et al. (eds). 2017. The Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, J., K. Jylhä, and P. Strimling. 2019. “Radical Right-Wing Voters from Right and Left: Comparing Sweden Democrat Voters Who Previously Voted for the Conservative Party or the Social Democratic Party.” Scandinavian Political Studies 42 (3–4):220–244. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, J., and S. van der Meiden. 2019. “The Radical Right and the End of Swedish Exceptionalism.” European Political Science 18 (3):439–455. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafis, D. 2022. Unveiling the rationale of soft hate speech in multimodal artefacts: A critical framework. Journal of Language and Discrimination, 6 (2), 261–288. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafis, D. & Assimakopoulos, S. 2023. ‘Let’s send them to desert islands’: Right-wing populist argumentation and hatred against migrants in Greece. In B. Hamre and L. Villadsen (Eds.), Islands and desolated places as cases of extreme exclusion, 83–103. Leiden: Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafis, D., Greco, S., Pollaroli, C. & Jermini-Martinez Soria, C. 2020a. Towards an integrated argumentative approach to multimodal critical discourse analysis: Evidence from the portrayal of refugees and immigrants in Greek newspapers. Critical Discourse Studies, 17 (5), 545–565. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2020b. Multimodal arguments in the mainstream press: Illustrating portrayals of migration. In Cook, J. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation Conference, Vol. 121 (pp. 1–14). Ontario: University of Windsor.Google Scholar
Serafis, D., Raimondo, C., Assimakopoulos, S., Greco, S. & Rocci, A. 2021. Argumentative dynamics in representations of migrants and refugees: Evidence from the Italian press during the ‘refugee crisis’. Discourse & Communication, 15 (5), 559–581. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafis, D. & Tseronis, A. 2023. The front page as a canvas for multimodal argumentation: Brexit in the Greek press. Frontiers in Communication 81: 1230632. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafis, D., Zappettini, F. & Assimakopoulos, S. 2023. The institutionalization of hatred politics in the Mediterranean: Studying corpora of online news portals during the European ‘refugee crisis’. Topoi 421, 651–670. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Soare, S., and C. D. Tufiș. 2023. “Saved by the Diaspora? The Case of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians.” European Political Science 22 (1):101–118. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stavrakakis, Y., and G. Katsambekis. 2014. “Left-Wing Populism in the European Periphery: The Case of SYRIZA.” Journal of Political Ideologies 19 (2):119–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stavrakakis, Y. et al. 2017. “Extreme Right-wing Populism in Europe: Revisiting a Reified Association.” Critical Discourse Studies 14 (4): 420–439. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sverigedemokraterna. 2023. “Vad vi vill.” [This is what we want] [URL] (last accessed: 2023-10-29).
Söderin, E. 2022. SD-toppen styrde trollarmén – gav sig på unga under klimatdemonstration. [Member of parliament from the Sweden Democrats led a troll army – infiltrated a climate demonstration] Dagens ETC. [URL] (last accessed: 29.10.2023).
Tseronis, A. 2015. “Multimodal Argumentation in News Magazine Covers: A Case Study of Front Covers Putting Greece on the Spot of the European Economic Crisis.” Discourse, Context and Media 71:18–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2018. “Multimodal Argumentation: Beyond the Verbal/Visual Divide.” Semiotica 2201:41–67. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tseronis, A., and C. Forceville (eds). 2017. Multimodal Argumentation and Rhetoric in Media Genres. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tseronis, Assimakis, Ramy Younis, and Mehmet Ali Üzelgün. 2024. “A proposal for the evaluation of multimodal argumentation: Assessing reasonableness and effectiveness in environmental campaign posters.” Journal of Argumentation in Context 13 (2):292–317.Google Scholar
van Dijk, T. A. 2001. “Critical Discourse Analysis.” In Handbook of Discourse Analysis, ed. by D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, and H. Hamilton, 352–371. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, T. 2008. Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Way, L. & Serafis, D. 2023. “Scroll culture and authoritarian populism: How Turkish and Greek online news aggravate ‘refugee crisis’ tensions”. Critical Discourse Studies, 20(6), 643–664. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R., and M. Krzyżanowski (eds). 2017. “Right-Wing Populism in Europe & USA: Contesting Politics & Discourse Beyond ‘Orbanism’ and ‘Trumpism’.” Journal of Language and Politics 16 (4):471–484. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R. 2021. The Politics of Fear: The Shameless Normalization of Far-Right Discourse. London: Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wodak, R., and M. KhosraviNik. (2013). “Dynamics of Discourse and Politics in Right-Wing Populism in Europe and Beyond: An Introduction.” In Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse, ed. by R. Wodak, M. KhosraviNik, and B. Mral, xvii–xxviii. London: Bloomsbury. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Heshmati, Bita & Ewa Modrzejewska
2024. How we argue about the use of images. Journal of Argumentation in Context 13:2 ► pp. 203 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.