Political emotions as a component of visual political artifacts: methodological perspectives

As a rule, studies on the role of visual imagery in politics either focus on the morphology and aesthetics of images or on their political content, leaving behind a comprehensive consideration of the emotional component. This article examines political emotions as an integral part of visual political artifacts and proposes a specific methodological approach for their analysis. As a basis, the article proposes a synthesis of two fields of research - political studies of visual communication and sociology of emotions. This allows us to break down disciplinary boundaries. The central concept of the solution is that of a “political emotive”, which widens M. Scheer's model for emotional communication. A political emotive is a visual expression that conveys a specific political emotion. There are five types of political emoticons: manifesting, solidifying, mobilizing, differentiating, and sublimating. These are illustrated with examples from various political symbols, such as posters, cartoons, memes, and movies. It is emphasized that visual political artifacts should be considered as political actions, with emotion as one of the main intentions. The proposed approach allows for the logical contextualization of images in their socio-political environment and opens up opportunities for further research into multimodal and dynamic forms of visibility. In conclusion, the potential of combining political theory on emotions with the analysis of visual artifacts is established to expand the field of political science.

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