A cognitive semantic study of selected posters used in Trump and Biden’s 2020 election campaign

الملخص EN

This paper is an attempt to analyze a sample of 2020 American presidential election posters from the viewpoint of Cognitive Semantics (CS).

The analysis covers the visual and verbal elements of these posters in terms of metaphorical and blending conceptualizations.

The study also attempts to find out how these cognitive mechanisms are employed to persuade the audience and highlight the political power of the election candidates.

To achieve the aims of the study, a sample of Trump and Biden’s political posters used in the 2020 American campaign is selected to be analyzed at visual and verbal levels.

The visual elements are analyzed based on Forceville's (1996-2014) model of non-verbal metaphor including monomodal and multimodal pictorial metaphor.

On the other hand, Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor model is adopted for the analysis of linguistic elements.

In terms of conceptual blending, Fauconnier and Turner’s model is used for the analysis of both linguistic and visual elements.

The results of analysis show that metaphorical and blending conceptualizations are essential tools in constructing and decoding the meaning of political election campaign posters.