A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Some Visual Images in the Political Rally Discourse of 2011 Electioneering Campaigns in Southwestern Nigeria

This paper presented a multimodal discourse analysis of some visual images in the political rally discourse of 2011 electioneering campaigns in Southwestern Nigeria. The data comprised purposively selected political visual artefacts from political rallies across the six Southwestern States in Nigeria (Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, and Lagos). The data were analyzed using Halliday’s (1985) systemic metafunctional principles and Barthes’ (1977) concepts of anchorage and relay. The study noted that, vests are the commonest type of semiotic artifact while caps, Ankara, and surrogate languages complement the use of vests for visual signification and meaning potentials in the discourse environment. The study also noted that, various political party colors reflect in almost all the visual images and they are suggestive of the ideology or level of commitment and political leanings of discourse participants. The study concluded that, semiotic resources or artefacts are an important aspect of political rallies because of the inherent political, cultural, and social communication that are revealed through them.