A construção de identidades em capas de revista: uma investigação semiótica do pleito eleitoral de 2010 para presidente.

Abstract

This study aims to analyze, according to greimasian semiotics, the construction of discursive identities of the former president candidates Rousseff and Serra on six covers of VEJA and IstoÉ, two Brazilian weekly magazines, which were published in 2010, during the pre-election or election term. We understand discursive identity as “end-image”, which is dialogically constructed in texts, based on what is provided about the enunciator and the enunciatee. (SARAIVA, 2008). This concept therefore corresponds to an identity arising and resulting from discourse. Moreover, we also use the methodology of verb-visuals texts analysis as suggested by Floch (2009), Teixeira (2009) and Pietroforte (2012). According to these semioticians, a syncretic text, like magazine covers, should be analyzed through verb-visual figures and themes in the discours; topological, eidetic and chromatic categories of the plastic plane of expression; the relationship between the two planes of language; the tensiveness present in the text; and the global communication strategy. The concept of syncretism comes from Hjelmslev (2009) and Greimas and Courtés (2011). From the semiotic point of view of these linguists, the magazine covers are syncretic texts, which have a global enunciative effect as a result of the articulation among the languages on the plane of expression. Seeing that covers are the first device to manipulate readers, it is of interest to examine in these texts how plastic categories of the plane of expression connect with categories of the plane of content in order to simulate the identities of both candidates. Our results show that this articulation creates an image game which can reveal in the enunciator’s choice whether the candidate is euphoric or dysphorically represented, because it is produced, discursively, the identity of competent to one of the candidates and of incompetent to the other one.