Visual Political Communication in Italian Electoral Campaigns

Abstract

After a brief introduction to the Italian political and communication scene, this chapter analyzes the electoral materials produced in the last four weeks of campaigning by the main political parties and candidates of the Italian general elections of March 2018. It focuses its attention on the forms and instruments of visual communication. The author highlights the evolution of the instruments and languages of electoral campaigns: the disappearance of the traditional forms of visual political communication, such as the street posters and TV ads, on the one hand, and the spread of new tools such as web cards, memes, and videos, on the other hand, with the latter closely related to the spread of social networks. What emerges is that the logic and rhetoric of social platforms is progressively changing the visual vocabularies and the strategies of engagement of politics and election candidates. The visual component is an increasingly important element in the process of emotionalization of political communication.