Abstract
After reviewing the principles of the populist articulation of the discourses that have guided the Podemos party’s strategy since 2014, this article proposes a semiotic analysis of the elements that have contributed to making the leader of the Spanish party, Pablo Iglesias, the empty signifier of this strategy. We thus observe how this media figure became an iconic sign of the political project, from the establishment of an ethos of a normal man that was supposed to allow the leader to maintain a metonymic relationship with the people that was expressed during the 15M movement in 2011, to the enhancement of his image as a presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections. But this hyper-incarnation went together with a major disappointment as soon as the leader's image no longer quite matched the myth that had been built up around him, as he was not elected President of the government in 2015 and internal tensions increased between 2016 and 2019.
Published Version
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