A politician's image is the result of a longterm, conscious and carefully designed strategy. In modern society, where visualisation and the media play a very important role, the image of an individual political reperesentative and the impression they create on the spectators, are two key factors – especially during political campagins. If politicians want to continue their work, they have to adjust their discourse and presentation to the modern day's ubiquitous logic of the media. They are graduately becoming more like pop stars who justify their purpose with a constant presence in the media. The mission of caricatures is to reveal the illusion of political notions by deforming the truth and with humour. Its critical role is incredibly important as it is a specific expressive tool within the press, consisting of writing and pictures. Borut Pahor is a Slovenian politician with a rich political career. He left his trademark in the Slovenian political scene with his innovative electoral campigns and constant presence in the media. Due to his appearance and his exposure to the media, he became the target of Slovenian satire. For my disertation, I researched the developement of Borut Pahor's image, especially during the electorial campaigns, by studying relevant literature and analyzing a few selected caricatures. The analysis showed that the caricatures critically discuss the public image of a politician which becomes more intense and more personal with every campaign and greater expossure to the media.
|