Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography

The Capitol Hill riots on 6 January 2021 were an event of great importance not only because of their political and legal impact, but also because they allowed everyone to observe the symbols, images, masks, and other signs that were displayed in front of the cameras of many journalists and eyewitnes...

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Main Author: Vittorio Iervese
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-05-01
Series:Genealogy
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/2/58
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author Vittorio Iervese
author_facet Vittorio Iervese
author_sort Vittorio Iervese
collection DOAJ
description The Capitol Hill riots on 6 January 2021 were an event of great importance not only because of their political and legal impact, but also because they allowed everyone to observe the symbols, images, masks, and other signs that were displayed in front of the cameras of many journalists and eyewitnesses. The iconography displayed on that occasion should not be dealt with as an extemporary invention but considered the result of a process of semantic and narrative accumulation produced in online and offline interactions. This article seeks to outline a theoretical–methodological framework of contemporary conspiracy images as multimodal forms of communication. Starting with images collected on Capitol Hill along with a corpus of online conversations that occurred on platforms such as Gab, in particular, between 2016 and 2021, examples of the dynamics of constitution of conspiracy images and their genealogy will be provided.
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spelling doaj-art-6db211701be74bd79a3c111396e9f2852025-08-20T02:01:35ZengMDPI AGGenealogy2313-57782024-05-01825810.3390/genealogy8020058Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy IconographyVittorio Iervese0Department of Studies on Language and Culture, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41121 Modena, ItalyThe Capitol Hill riots on 6 January 2021 were an event of great importance not only because of their political and legal impact, but also because they allowed everyone to observe the symbols, images, masks, and other signs that were displayed in front of the cameras of many journalists and eyewitnesses. The iconography displayed on that occasion should not be dealt with as an extemporary invention but considered the result of a process of semantic and narrative accumulation produced in online and offline interactions. This article seeks to outline a theoretical–methodological framework of contemporary conspiracy images as multimodal forms of communication. Starting with images collected on Capitol Hill along with a corpus of online conversations that occurred on platforms such as Gab, in particular, between 2016 and 2021, examples of the dynamics of constitution of conspiracy images and their genealogy will be provided.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/2/58conspiracyiconographymultimodalityalt-righthermetic semiosis
spellingShingle Vittorio Iervese
Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography
Genealogy
conspiracy
iconography
multimodality
alt-right
hermetic semiosis
title Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography
title_full Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography
title_fullStr Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography
title_full_unstemmed Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography
title_short Multimodal Genealogy: The Capitol Hill Riot and Conspiracy Iconography
title_sort multimodal genealogy the capitol hill riot and conspiracy iconography
topic conspiracy
iconography
multimodality
alt-right
hermetic semiosis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/2/58
work_keys_str_mv AT vittorioiervese multimodalgenealogythecapitolhillriotandconspiracyiconography