the multimodal construction of the identity of politicians: constructing jacob zuma through prior...

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THE MULTIMODAL CONSTRUCTION OFTHE IDENTITY OF POLITICIANSMarcelyn Oostendorpa

a Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University,Stellenbosch, South AfricaPublished online: 09 Oct 2014.

To cite this article: Marcelyn Oostendorp (2014): THE MULTIMODAL CONSTRUCTION OF THEIDENTITY OF POLITICIANS, Critical Discourse Studies

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THE MULTIMODAL CONSTRUCTION OFTHE IDENTITY OF POLITICIANSConstructing Jacob Zuma through priortexts, prior discourses and multiple modes

Marcelyn Oostendorp

This paper will use the theoretical concepts of ‘intertextuality’, ‘interdiscursivity’ and ‘resemiotiza-

tion’ to analyse four media texts on South African president, Jacob Zuma. The aims of the

paper are, first, to analyse the role that intertextual references play in the construction of the iden-

tity of public figures. Second, the paper investigates the semiotic affordances of the visual and lin-

guistic mode by tracing how previous discourses and texts about Jacob Zuma move across

discursive spaces and modes. The findings suggest that reference to previous discourses play a fun-

damental role in the way in which Jacob Zuma is constructed. More specifically, resemiotization

from the verbal to the visual mode seems to serve as a way to bring multiple discourses into a

text without necessarily articulating these discourses linguistically. These findings are discussed

within the broader framework of critical discourse analysis.

KEYWORDS multimodality; resemiotization; intertextuality interdiscursive; identityconstruction; semiotic affordances

1. Introduction

It is largely acknowledged in the study of discourse that texts build on other textsand discourses to make meaning (Fairclough, 1992, 2003; Feng & Wignell, 2011; Johnstone,2008). Various theoretical concepts have been used to describe this reliance of texts onprior texts and discourses, such as ‘intertextuality’ (Fairclough, 1992; Kristeva, 1986), ‘inter-discursivity’ (Fairclough, 1992; Scollon, 1998) and ‘resemiotization’ (Iedema, 2001, 2003).The more recently introduced concept of ‘resemiotization’ is reflective of the current multi-modal nature of communication, as it attempts to offer a means of analysis which not onlyinvestigates how texts use and transform prior texts, but also how texts can move acrosspractices (Iedema, 2003, p. 40). This paper will use an intertextual analysis, building on thetheoretical concepts of ‘intertextuality’, ‘interdiscursivity’ and ‘resemiotization’ to analysefour media texts on South African president, Jacob Zuma, which appeared in the SouthAfrican English-speaking press. The selected texts all provide commentary on one eventin Jacob Zuma’s life; namely fathering a child out of wedlock with Sonono Khoza. Thetexts selected all make extensive use of prior texts and discourses across different semioticmodes, and all four make reference to either the president’s polygamous lifestyle or pre-vious incidences in his life related to sexual responsibility and morality, such as the rapetrial in which he was the accused. The aims of the paper are, first, to analyse the rolethat intertextual references play in the construction of the identity of public figures. This

Critical Discourse Studies, 2014http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2014.962066

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particular aspect of the paper builds on propositions from critical discourse analysis (CDA)(Fairclough, 1992; Scollon, 1998) that intertextual and interdiscursive links can be a power-ful tool in identity construction in public communication. Second, the paper investigatesthe semiotic affordances of the visual and linguistic mode by tracing how previous dis-courses and texts about Jacob Zuma move across discursive spaces and modes, and theeffect of this movement on the meaning of the texts under investigation. The findingswill be discussed within the broader framework of CDA and the theoretical progress thatcan be made by dedicating more attention to the role that semiotic resources, otherthan language, play in the construction of ideologies in the media.

2. Theoretical Framework

2.1. Intertextuality and Interdiscursivity

The notion of intertextuality was originally developed in the field of literary theoryand literary criticism. Bakhtin (1981, p. 262) proposed that, in the novel, one can find a‘diversity of social speech types (sometimes even diversity of languages) and a diversityof individual voices, artistically organised’. Kristeva (1986, p. 36) credited Bakhtin as oneof the first scholars to view texts not as static but as dynamic, by proposing that a literarystructure is built on an existing structure. Subsequently, Kristeva (1986, p. 37) coined theterm intertextuality to mean that ‘any text is constructed as a mosaic of quotations; anytext is the absorption and transformation of another’. Culler (1976, p. 1382) proposesthat an intertextual analysis should not only involve tracing the relation of texts to previoustexts but should also investigate a text’s participation in a discursive space. He views theprocesses of reading and writing as essentially placing a work in a discursive space(reading) or taking up a particular position in a discursive space (writing), relating it toother texts and codes which can occupy this space. For Culler (1976, p. 1388), intertextualityincludes both the use of explicit conventions of a genre, and ‘specific presuppositionsabout what is already known and unknown, more general expectations and interpretiveoperations, and broad assumptions about the preoccupation and goals of a type of dis-course’. Similarly, Fairclough (1992, p. 102) in the field of CDA distinguishes betweenmore direct forms of intertextuality such as quoting and paraphrasing and more indirectforms such as presupposition, assumption and negation.

The concept of ‘intertextuality’ has however also garnered some criticism. Irwin(2004, p. 240), for example, criticizes proponents of the concept ‘intertextuality’ for treatingthe text as if ‘language and texts operate independently of human agency’, and calls unin-tended connections between texts ‘accidental associations’. Irwin (2004) and others (Caple,2010; Lennon, 2004) have opted not to use intertextuality as an encompassing concept butinstead to use notions such as ‘allusion’ to refer to specific forms of referencing previoustexts. Lennon (2004, p. 1) defines echoic allusion as a short stretch of discourse that is‘recognised by the reader as deliberate play on a piece of well-known composed languageor name so as to convey implicit meaning’. According to Caple (2010, p. 114), the fact thatthe concept allusion captures the author’s deliberate intent to refer to another text and thereader’s ability to recognize the reference this concept provides more analytical power forinvestigation of the use of prior texts and discourses in the news media. In fact, Irwin (2004,

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p. 240) argues that analysing a text without ‘authorial intent is to treat the text as if it werenot a text at all’. Despite criticism against ‘intertextuality’ (Irwin, 2004; also see Orr, 2003 fora comprehensive overview of ‘intertextuality’ and the debates surrounding it) the interdis-cursive and intertextual links in texts have been investigated in educational discourses(Bloome & Egan-Robertson, 1993; Duff, 2003; Lemke, 1992), political discourses(Dunmire, 2009; Solin, 2004) and media discourses (Fairclough, 1992; Feng & Wignell,2011; Hiramoto, 2012; Scollon, 1998). The current study, although acknowledging theexplanatory power that concepts such as allusion can provide, will use the concepts inter-textuality and interdiscursivity. The decision that intertextuality will be used is based on thefact that a number of different kinds of references to prior texts and discourses will beinvestigated (thus more than just allusion).

In his analysis of media texts, Scollon (1998, p. 252) uses ‘intertextuality’ and ‘polyvo-cality’ to refer to the ways in which voices of prior texts are incorporated into texts. Theseother voices can be used in response to prior texts or in anticipation of future texts. Aconcept closely related to ‘intertextuality’ is that of ‘interdiscursivity’, which according toScollon (1998) operates on a different level from intertextuality, a level above the sentence.Interdiscursive relations are created when genres, situations, registers, social practices orcommunities of practice are appropriated in a text. Similar to Culler (1976), Scollon(1998) acknowledges the important role that intertextuality plays in placing texts in a par-ticular discursive space. Scollon (1998) argues, for example, that news discourse does notform a separate discourse, but is interdiscursively linked to other social discourses such aslegal or environmental discourses. The discursive space of news discourse is shaped byother discourses to such an extent that ‘interdiscursivity must be taken as the fundamentalsocial matrix in which the social practices of news discourse are played out’ (Scollon, 1998,p. 253). News discourse, therefore, cannot be easily identified as a clearly definable andseparate discourse; rather the interdiscursive links to other discourses might be one ofits defining characteristics.

Increasingly, intertextual references are not only created by the explicit use of linguis-tic devices but also by the use of a number of different semiotic modes.

2.2. Multimodal Discourse and Resemiotization

Various scholars have pointed to the increasingly multimodal nature of the currentcommunication landscape (Jaworski & Thurlow, 2010; Kress, 2009; Kress & Van Leeuwen,1996, 1998). Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996, p. 183) define multimodal texts as ‘any textwhose meanings are realised through more than one semiotic mode’. The study of multi-modal texts has been largely conducted from a socially situated perspective. Mode, forexample, is defined by Kress (2005, p. 6) as ‘culturally and socially produced resourcesfor representation’. In this definition, it is clear that mode is not only investigated with afocus on form but also that there is a focus on the meaning of modes within a particularcontext.

Iedema (2003, p. 33) identifies two central issues which make a multimodal analysisagenda prominent: one is ‘the de-centring of language as favoured meaning-making’ andthe second is the revisiting and blurring of the traditional boundaries between verbal andnon-verbal modes of meaning-making, which includes the traditional roles allocated to

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language, image, page, layout, document design and so on. For Iedema (2003, p. 40), multi-modality as an analytical tool provides ways to describe semiotic practices or represen-tation in all their richness and complexity.

Many of the tools currently used in multimodal analysis date back to Kress and VanLeeuwen’s (1996) landmark study, The grammar of visual design. This study provides a fra-mework, which builds on systemic functional linguistics’ three metafunctions of meaning-making potential: the interpersonal, the experiential and the textual metafunctions. Themain focus of this paper will be on the textual metafunction as this provides a means ofanalysing how the way in which elements are arranged structures the discourse (Jewitt,2005, p. 312). In other words, this metafunction gives a glimpse into how discourses arestructured to mean certain things and provides analytical tools to investigate whereelements are placed on a page (or screen), the salience of each element and the ways inwhich the elements are connected. Broadly speaking, information presented on theright of the page is regarded as given information, and that on the left as new. Elementsplaced on the top of the page as ideal, and those on the bottom as real. This system hasbeen employed in a number of studies (Knox, 2007; Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1998; Stenglin,2009), but has failed to really capture the movement of meanings across modes.

Against this backdrop, Iedema (2001, 2003) introduced the concept of ‘resemiotiza-tion’. Building on Jakobson’s term ‘intersemioticity’ which originally referred to the trans-lation from one language to another, Iedema (2003, p. 40) defines resemiotization as‘how meaning-making shifts from context to context, from practice to practice, or fromone stage of a practice to the next’. Taking the translation metaphor further, Iedema(2001, p. 24) postulates that one semiotic mode can stand for another semiotic mode.However, as with translation meaning can be altered in the process and as a text gets rese-miotized it eventually becomes more divorced from the social interaction that created it(Iedema, 2003, p. 40). This entails that there are certain gains for the text producer aswell as certain losses. Resemiotization also entails deliberate choices being made by textproducers, privileging certain aspects of human experience. Iedema (2003, p. 50) arguesthat a multimodal approach which takes resemiotization into account can be a powerfultool of analysis, in particular by underscoring the historical and material nature of represen-tation. Bezemer and Kress (2008, p. 169) in similar vein introduced the term transductionwhich refers to how ‘semiotic material is moved across modes, from one mode (or set ofmodes) to another mode (or set of modes)’.

Although works on intertextuality in multimodal discourses have been scarce(though see Ivanic (2004) on discourses in an educational setting; Feng and Wignell(2011) on TV advertisements and Hiramoto (2012) on a range of media discourses) interestin the topic is growing. Particularly relevant to this is article is the work of Caple and Bed-narek (2010) and Bednarek and Caple (2010) who investigated intertexuality in multisemio-tic printed news stories, a news genre that relies heavily on images to make meaning. Inthese news stories, intertextual references are used in a number of ways across theverbal and visual modes: idiomatic expressions are, for example, ‘rendered literally in theimage’ and cultural allusions are made in captions (Caple & Bednarek, 2010, p. 215). Ithas been proposed that this intersemiotic intertextual play can be used as a way ofbonding with the readers and creating a sense of community. However, this practicecan also be ideologically loaded and can have an effect of trivialization if used in the


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reporting of hard news (Bednarek & Caple, 2010). Similar to the recent work on multimodalintertextuality in the media, this paper will analyse the selected texts in the critical multi-modal discourse analysis framework. The focus will primarily be on the history of intertex-tual references, the movement of these references across modes and its ideological effects.

2.3. The Discursive Construction of Identity in the Media

Studies that investigate the discursive construction of identities in the media havelargely focused on the construction of particular groups such as ethnic minorities, maleor female representation, or on the construction of sub-groupings such as ‘workers’ (Ains-worth & Hardy, 2004; De Cillia, Reisigl, & Wodak, 1999; Pietikäinen & Dufva, 2006). De Cilliaet al. (1999, p. 153) view identities as discursively ‘produced, reproduced, transformed anddestructed’. This discursive construction of identity is achieved by means of language andother semiotic systems. An analysis of the discursive construction of identity is usually jus-tified by claiming that this type of analysis gives insight into tensions between differentidentity constructions and also points to how discursive and other forms of social practicesare linked (De Cillia et al., 1999, p. 170).

Despite De Cillia et al.’s (1999, p. 153) assertion that discursive means to include notonly language but also other semiotic systems, discursive in reality often only seems torefer to language. This article is different from previous studies in this tradition in that itexplicitly sets out to investigate the multimodal construction of identity. More specificallythe article will investigate the ways in which intertextual references move across differentsemiotic modes. This will allow an investigation of how different social practices might berelated to each other in the formation of identity.

The article is also different from the majority of studies on identity construction in themedia as it focuses on an individual and not a group. Scollon (1998, p. 245) calls the centralcharacters in news stories (such as politicians, sports stars and celebrities), ‘newsmakers’ whoexist as ‘figures crafted out of the words and characterization of the journalist’. In otherwords, these newsmakers are discursively constructed by defining who they are, whattheir interests are and what their position is within a society in relation to other people (Ains-worth & Hardy, 2004, p. 240). According to Scollon (1998, p. 245), a newsmaker’s primary roleis to provide statements that journalists use in their heavily woven, evaluated stories. Thesestories ultimately construct the newsmakers’ identities in particular ways. Identity is thusunderstood here as ‘produced in specific historical and institutional sites with specific discur-sive formations and practices by specific enunciative strategies’ (Hall, 2000, p. 17). For thepurposes of this paper, the construction of identity of one particular newsmaker, currentSouth African president, Jacob Zuma, is in focus. Not only is Jacob Zuma a known ‘news-maker’ (he was named South African newsmaker of the year for 2009 by the NationalPress Club of South Africa), but a lot of controversy has also surrounded the way in whichhe is depicted/represented in the press and in public discourses in general.

3. Background and Selection of Texts

Hodge and Kress (1988) in their seminal work emphasized the necessity of any socialsemiotic analysis to be situated in the cultural, societal and political context of the time. A


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number of political, social and cultural events shaped and constructed the birth of JacobZuma’s youngest child as newsworthy. Media scholars often refer to ‘news values’ as thefactors that make events and issues worthy of publication (Galtung & Ruge, 1965;Harcup & O’Neill, 2001). A number of news values can be identified that made the birthof Jacob Zuma’s youngest child newsworthy. First and foremost, as president of SouthAfrica, Jacob Zuma is regarded as an elite person, or a powerful individual (Harcup &O’Neill, 2001, p. 279). What further makes this event newsworthy is that the news can beconstrued as negative or bad news and the fact that Zuma is no stranger to controversy.There has been continued reporting on him for a period of time, even before hebecame president of South Africa: his former financial advisor Shabir Shaik was foundguilty of corruption, Zuma himself had charges of corruption against him (the case wassubsequently withdrawn) and he was the accused in a much publicized rape trial inwhich he was eventually found to be not guilty. Moreover, Jacob Zuma was infamously dis-missed by Thabo Mbeki as vice president, following the corruption allegations, and laterwon the succession battle as leader of the African National Congress (ANC), which led tohim taking office as South African president in 2009. He has also been in the news forhis polygamous lifestyle. The news value of ‘follow-up’ (Harcup & O’Neill, 2001) or continu-ity (Galtung & Ruge, 1965) is therefore another reason for the selection of the story forpublication.

The birth of Jacob Zuma’s youngest child also involves ‘reference to sex’ which hasbeen found to be a subcomponent of the ‘entertainment’ news value, identified as impor-tant in contemporary society (Harcup & O’Neill, 2001, p. 279). The news broke during theperiod when the opening of the South African parliament traditionally takes place.During February 2010 South Africa celebrated the 20th year celebration of FW de Klerk’sspeech which unbanned the ANC and set in motion the release of Nelson Mandela.During this time the media was particularly reflective on the progress that had beenmade in the country since its transition to democracy. These political and social eventsall contributed to the particular way in which Zuma fathering a child out of wedlock wasreported on, in the South African media. The selected texts have to be viewed and analysedwithin this context.

For this paper, four media texts from South African publications were selected foranalysis from a collection of approximately 50 texts, collected during the period ofJanuary–February 2010. These texts were chosen as they are particularly illustrative ofthe processes of resemiotization and intertextuality discussed in this paper. Furthermore,the following criteria were also used for the selection: All the texts had to either makean explicit reference to a child/baby or to sex (either verbally or visually). The selectedtexts had to be part of the broad genre of opinion, appearing in the opinion/commentarysection of the particular newspaper and had to have a salient visual component (photo-graph or drawing(s)).

The opinion section of a newspaper is particularly interesting as this is a space wherethe guise of objectivity is suspended and explicitly allows for the expression of a point of view(Wahl-jorgensen, 2004, p. 59). The types of genres found in this section usually include theeditorial, letters to the editor, column/feature writing, editorial cartoons and syndicatedcomic strips. Figure 1 and Figure 3 belong to the genre of editorial cartoon. Figure 1appeared in the Sowetan, a daily popular publication, while Figure 3 appeared in the Mail


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and Guardian, a weekly highbrow publication. Figure 4 is an opinion piece (written by a guestcolumnist) for the Mail and Guardian and Figure 2 a syndicated comic strip entitled Madamand Eve. The political/editorial cartoons display typical characteristics of the genre. Accordingto El Refaie (2009, pp. 185–186), political cartoons are usually published on the editorial pagein a single panel and addresses a current political event or issue, a recent trend or a publicfigure. It usually takes a particular point of view, it might be humorous, and usually containssome surprising element (El Refaie, 2009, p. 186). The syndicated comic strip has differentgeneric features. McCloud (1993, p. 9) defines comics as ‘juxtaposed pictorial and otherimages in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aes-thetic response in the viewer’. Although all the texts selected belong to different genres,all can be said to belong to the broad category of opinion pieces.

4. Analysis

4.1. Figure 1: ‘Have a Baby by Me, Baby be a First Lady’

Figure 1 is an editorial cartoon that appeared in the Sowetan of 5 February 2010. Thecartoonist displays his work under the name Yalo. It contains two figures; one on the rightwhich depicts the rapper, 50 Cent, the one on the left depicts Jacob Zuma. 50 Cent is thestage name of American rap artist, Curtis James Jackson.

According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1998, p. 189), the position that each part of ameaning-making system occupies on a page or screen is an important meaning-makingresource. They regard elements placed on the left (especially in ‘Western’ contexts) as‘given information’, with which the reader is already familiar, while elements placed onthe right are regarded as new information. Kress and Van Leeuwen (1998, p. 189)believe that the new is presented as ‘problematic, contestable, the information in issue,while the given is presented as common-sense and self-evident’.

FIGURE 1Have a baby by me, baby be a first lady© 2010 Yalo/Sowetan (All Rights Reserved).


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This polarization of given and new in this cartoon is achieved by having the twofigures on opposing sides of the page. On the left the words of 50 Cent’s Have a babyby me, baby be a millionaire are displayed together with an image of 50 Cent while onthe right the image of Jacob Zuma and the words, Have a baby by me, baby be a firstlady are displayed. The Jacob Zuma figure is constructed as the new, problematic or con-testable information. A direct form of intertextuality is used in the paraphrase of the 50Cent song. In order to make more implicit connections to intertextual references readersneed to infer some background knowledge. For example, by having the Jacob Zumafigure performing the same song as 50 Cent, not only are implicit connections madebetween Zuma and the stereotypical rappers lifestyle, but connections are also madewith the lyrics of the song. The general theme of the song is that the rapper encouragesa girl to have a baby with him and in that way become a millionaire. The lyrics of thesong are sexually explicit, some of the lines say, for example: I don’t play no games,So when I’m in that thang, Girl I perform for ya, like a porno star, Girl you can start ontop or on fours (http://www.musicsonglyrics.cm/baby-by-me-lyrics-50-cent-f-ney.html). Bylinking the image of Jacob Zuma to this 50 Cent song, connections to discourses ofsexual irresponsibility and promiscuity are made. For these kinds of connections to be suc-cessfully made, readers need to be aware of Zuma’s sexual history and his polygamouslifestyle.

The visual mode of representation plays a central role in relating the two figures inthe texts, not only to the outside world, but also to each other (Fairclough, 2003, p. 39).The cartoon uses a classification structure, which brings different people together in thesame picture and then distributes them across the page in a symmetrical way showingthat they belong to the same category, or have something in common (Jewitt &Oyama, 2001, p. 138). The similarity between the two figures is achieved by them per-forming ‘almost’ the same song, being equally salient in terms of size and colour, andby almost having the same stance. Zuma as the new element is compared with thegiven element. The two figures are presented however, as almost the same, but notexactly the same. The figures are differentiated from each other by each being in theirown spotlight. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1998, p. 203), framing canconnect or disconnect elements. The two figures are further differentiated from eachother by being dressed differently. The figure depicting 50 Cent is dressed in thetypical gangster rapper’s outfit and bling-bling, while the figure depicting Zuma isdressed in a suit. Framing is thus used here to establish enough similarity between thetwo images to invite the reader to compare them, but enough dissimilarity to judgeZuma as aberrant or different.

By connecting the two texts through both internal and external references, thelatest Jacob Zuma incident is placed within the discursive space of sexual indiscretion.The effect of placing the text in that specific discursive space is that the text becomesinterdiscursively linked to previous occurrences in the president’s life related to sexsuch as his rape trial and reports on his polygamous lifestyle. As with all intertextualreferences whether explicit or implicit, these linkages will only become apparent ifthe reader has access to the appropriate background and contextual knowledgeabout the rapper, about the song and more specifically about Jacob Zuma and hisrelationship history.


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4.2. Figure 2: ‘The Birds, the Bees and Zuma’

Figure 2 is a cartoon of The Madam and Eve comic strip series. The comic strip wascreated by Stephen Francis and Rico Schacherl. It is syndicated in 13 publications and isread by an estimated 4 million people (http://www.madamandeve.co.za). The main charac-ters are Eve, a domestic worker, Madam (or Mrs Anderson), Mother Anderson and Eve’scousin Thandi. The particular rendition of the comic, selected for this paper appeared inthe Mail and Guardian of 13 February 2010.

The main participants in this rendition of the comic are Mother Anderson and Thandi.The comic shows these two participants watching a television news broadcast that reportson Jacob’s Zuma’s latest controversy. This text, like Figure 1, shows evidence of both internaland external references to other texts and discourses. The first line reads and We’ll be backwith more on President Zuma’s latest controversy. after this. In the second frame of the comic,Thandi asks a question which is in direct response to this first line, namely What is unpro-tected sex. It is clear to see that there are both internal and external references made to thecontroversies that the president was involved in. By referring to the latest controversy, themore subtle form of intertextuality, assumption, is used to create connections betweentexts. For something to be called the latest, earlier controversies should have occurredand it is to these earlier controversies that the latest one is connected.

The exchange between Mother Anderson and Thandi continues with Mother Ander-son sarcastically thanking President Zuma: Thanks President Zuma. This utterance is linked

FIGURE 2The birds, the bees and Zuma© Rapid Phase (Pty) Ltd, authors Stephen Francis and Rico Schacherl.


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http://www.madamandeve.co.za

to other texts again through assumption. Implicitly the connection is made that Thandi’squestion should be read in a reference to the news broadcast on Zuma, and that it wasmentioned in the report that he practises unprotected sex. Mother Anderson then triesto explain unprotected sex to Thandi. In order to talk about unprotected sex in connectionto the president, she has to address the fact that the president has multiple sexual partners.When Mother Anderson explains that the president might want to take a differentgirlfriend Thandi asks: But doesn’t he have wives for that? Although there is no direct refer-ence to a previous text, it alludes to the fact that it is widely reported that the presidentfollows a polygamous lifestyle. Mother Anderson then tries to use the traditional ‘birdsand bees’ talk to explain the president’s indiscretion. The use of the particular register ofthe ‘birds and bee talk’ can be seen as an example of interdiscursivity (Scollon, 1998,p. 253). The interdiscursive reference to the birds and the bees moves the discourse onthe president to the discursive space of sexual education. Further evidence that this dis-course moves into the discursive space of sexual education is presented when Thandiasks with an incredulous expression on her face, So President Zuma has an unprotectedstinger? This particular utterance draws on discourses of sexual education, safe sexual prac-tices and sexual responsibility. Thandi seems to be more informed about sexual mattersthan the president and sees the danger of an unprotected stinger more easily than the pre-sident himself.

In answer to Thandi’s question ofWhat do the birds get (referring to the women Zumahas been involved with), Mother Anderson uses a number of intertextual references inresponse. She answers; Usually Breakfast, Taxi fare… And if it gets in the newspapers, Inhla-wulo. These intertextual references are all very specific to Zuma’s sexual history referring totwo separate incidences in Jacob Zuma’s life. One being the rape trail, where evidence wasgiven that the woman, who accused him of rape, apparently had breakfast and asked formoney to pay for a taxi before she left. The second incidence refers to Zuma fathering achild with Sonono Khoza and then releasing a statement wherein he claimed that hepaid inhlawulo (traditional Zulu customary damages paid when a child is born out ofwedlock to the mother’s family) and thus acted in a responsible manner. The questionfrom Thandi implicitly evokes previous discourses about gender equality following fromthe rape trial, and Zuma’s statement about inhlawulo. These previous texts have been rese-miotized from the discursive space of court discourses and political statements, respect-ively. Most crucially, these texts became divorced from the original social interactions inwhich they were created. The statement about inhlawulo was offered as a defence bythe president about claims that he acted irresponsibly, and the utterances about taxifare and breakfast were originally used as evidence in court. In the comic, these utterancesare, however, used to answer the question of what the women who are involved withJacob Zuma get. Intertextual and interdiscursive links are used to form the underlyingmeaning of the text and construct President Zuma as sexually irresponsible, so irresponsi-ble in fact that even a child knows better.

The comic strip was not printed in colour and had little detail. However, the visualmode is used creatively to emphasize or highlight certain features. Certain words areprinted in bold or are underlined to make it more salient. For example, the word stingeris made more salient by underlining it, while words such as girlfriends, boy bee, honey,pollen, taxi fare, breakfast and inhlawulo are in bold. All of these words are related to


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Zuma’s sexual history. The visual mode also adds meaning by the facial expressions (e.g.the surprised look on Thandi’s face when she understands that President Zuma has anunprotected stinger) of the characters. Although the visual mode is used, it seems that inthis comic the meaning is locked in by the words (McCloud, 1993, p. 159) and that thevisuals play a supporting role.

4.3. Figure 3: The Long ***k to Freedom

Figure 3 is an editorial cartoon that appeared in theMail and Guardian of 13 February2010. The creator of the cartoon is Zapiro.1 It contains two main figures. The figure on theleft depicts Nelson Mandela and the one on the right Jacob Zuma.

As with Figure 1, Zuma is also presented as the new information while the formerpresident Nelson Mandela is presented as the given information. The figure depictingNelson Mandela has a copy of his autobiography, Long walk to freedom, under his arm.The complete title of the book is not shown, but it is assumed that the readers knowthe title of the book. In the distance is a crowd praising Mandela for his contribution tothe country. Mandela is dressed in his traditional ‘Madiba shirt’, while Jacob Zuma isdressed in a suit. Zuma is depicted with a shower on his head. The visual depiction ofthe shower is an explicit reference to his now infamous answer to the question of howhe protected himself against HIV in his rape trail2. This explicit form of intertextuality is rese-miotized from verbal court discourse to representation in the visual mode. Jacob Zumacarries his own copy of an autobiography called, Long ***k to freedom. The particularsymbols used (***) evokes previous texts and discourses as it is standard practice toreplace swearwords or words that are deemed inappropriate to be published withsymbols of this kind. In this case, the most plausible swearword would be fuck, thusZuma’s autobiography is called Long fuck to freedom. Unlike Nelson Mandela who

FIGURE 3The long ***k to freedom© 2010 Zapiro/www.zapiro.com (All Rights Reserved).


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discreetly has his own autobiography under his arm, Jacob Zuma, holds up his autobiogra-phy with the title of the book, clearly showing. In this cartoon, the newsmaker does not geta voice, but he only gets to hold up his autobiography. Zuma is however evaluated by theMandela image who does get a voice (Hartley, 1982, p. 42). The newsmaker thus, as Scollon(1998) argues, exists here as a construction of selected words and characterizations by thejournalist.

By juxtaposing the two figures and Long walk to freedom with Long fuck to freedomtwo different discursive spaces are connected with the aim of making a comparison. Thediscourse is placed not only within the discursive space of sexual behaviour, but also inthe domain of politics by having an iconic political figure such as Mandela on the samepage as Jacob Zuma. Further, the cartoon is placed in the discursive space of morality.Here, the inferencing abilities of the readers are needed to infer that as Nelson Mandelais commonly regarded to be a morally upright figure. In this cartoon, the differences,rather than the similarities between the two figures are emphasized through the visualmode. Zuma as the new element is being compared to Mandela as the given element.They are differentiated from each other in many respects. Compared to Figure 1, whereZuma was more or less the same size as 50 Cent, Mandela is an imposing figurecompared to Zuma. Mandela is clearly the more salient feature in terms of size and thusis constructed as a man much bigger than Zuma in stature, reputation and legacy. The‘old’ is constructed as more qualified than the new.

Framing is used in this example to disconnect rather than to connect the two images(the difference in size, large white space between the two images and so on); it is clearlyshown that although the two images are being compared they are in fact not comparable.Although the visual and verbal elements work together to create a construction of Zuma asa weak political and moral leader compared to Nelson Mandela. The visual is clearly thedominant mode of representation, with the verbal extending or complementing the infor-mation provided by the visual.

4.4. Figure 4: Don Juan de Zuma

Figure 4 is an opinion piece which appeared in the Mail and Guardian of 13 February2010. It was written by columnist Nikiwe Bikitsha and the graphics were bylined to JohnMcCann.

The headline of the piece readsWhat part of no does Zuma not get? Although there isno explicit reference to Zuma’s rape trial in the heading, the use of the word no can be seento draw on inferences related to sexual consent. Hickman and Muenhlenhard (1999, p. 258)define sexual consent as ‘the freely given verbal or non-verbal communication of a feelingof willingness’. Saying no is seen as enough to give an individual control of a sexual act, ifthe other person does not ‘get no’, or does not want to listen to no, the act can be seen asrape. This inference is possible because of the much publicized rape trial in which Zumawas the accused. The verbal text is organized along the margins, while the centre is domi-nated by a picture of Jacob Zuma. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1998, p. 196),information that is organized in the centre is regarded as the core information with theinformation organized around it the subservient information or the margins. The centralimage is of Zuma, in the centre of a heart. Around the heart, smaller hearts are organized


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with the names of women Zuma has had liaisons with. The hearts are also a reference tothe fact that the text appeared one day before Valentine’s Day. In the picture, Zuma hasbunny ears and a rose in his mouth. The bunny ears draws on various intertextual and inter-discursive references. The character Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character (it is referenced inthe picture and is thus an explicit intertextual reference), which can possibly constructZuma as a character without substance. Other more implicit connections that can bemade to previous texts and discourses are that bunnies or rabbits are also associatedwith fertility and reproducing at a rapid rate. By most reports Zuma’s youngest child ishis twentieth, thus the connection is clear. A further association to sex is that the bunnyears are also typically used as a visual depiction of the Playboy brand. The visual image con-structs Zuma as ‘a playa’, ‘Casanova’ or ‘Don Juan’, somebody who cannot be taken tooseriously and has had affairs with many women. These external references were originallycreated in popular culture but are resemiotized to construct Zuma in this particular way.

The verbal part of the article centres on President Zuma’s reaction to questions fromthe public about this latest controversy surrounding him. The main part of the article isspent on how Zuma does not seem to understand the public’s outrage over his behaviour.In order to illustrate this, the writer uses a less explicit form of intertextuality by indirectlyreporting on Zuma’s statements made in response to the public outcry. For example: In astatement from the presidency, an interminable and unsettling three days after the news broke,he is indignant and self-righteous. He chides the media for prying into his business, and berates

FIGURE 4Don Juan de Zuma© Mail and Guardian (All Rights Reserved). Nikiwe Bikitsha.


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us for undermining his right to dignity and that of the child and family concerned. He goesfurther to say he has done right by the family by paying inhlawulo. These prior texts are attrib-uted to Zuma, although these are not his direct words. The text also shows internal inter-textual relations, especially regarding the word no, which were found in the headline, thewriter says: To his surprise though, South Africans have come out with a resounding NO. Thetext places the issue in the discursive space of sexual indiscretion and morality and not onlyuses prior text and discourses but also shapes expectations for new discourse (Johnstone,2008), when the writer says: Over the next few years, please do not expose us to yet anotherdiscomfiting debacle where we as a nation are discussing your sex life. The visual aspect of thetext is the most salient, but in this case the visual and the verbal express the same mean-ings (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1998, p. 187) as both construct Zuma as sexually immoral andas someone whose sexual indiscretions are bigger than the person himself.

5. General Discussion and Conclusion

All the texts analysed are of a multimodal nature. The verbal and the visual modeswork together to construct Jacob Zuma in such a way that his sexual/relationshiphistory is never forgotten. The visual performs various functions which can partly be attrib-uted to the different genres that the texts belong to: in the editorial cartoons, the visualdominates the page and is the more salient and important aspect. In Madame and Eve,the visual plays a less dominant role than the verbal and aids only in illustration and increating specific effects such as the facial expressions of characters and in portrayingmovement. In the more serious domain of column writing, the visual mode althoughmore salient is of equal importance to the verbal. The intertextual and interdiscursive refer-ences used range from references to popular culture (books, songs and television pro-grammes), references to previous discourses and texts about Zuma and references tomoral, political and gender discourses. The intertextual and interdiscursive referencesallow the text producers to discuss the birth of Jacob Zuma’s child within the discourseof sexual responsibility and morality. This is achieved by referring to and resemiotizingkey aspects of the discourse around him, such as statements made during his rape trial,and his polygamous lifestyle. The construction that is created of Jacob Zuma is of a manwho is sexually irresponsible, of questionable morals and as a weak leader compared toprevious ones. Interdiscursivity and intertextuality play a key role in constructing Zumain this way, thus reiterating Scollon’s (1998, p. 252) view that ‘the social construction ofidentity which takes place in and through news discourse is a highly interdiscursiveprocess’.

The analysis also shows that the interdiscursive nature of identity construction in themedia is achieved to a great extent through the use of resemiotized multimodal resources.As key intertextual references get resemiotized, these references (apology, statement,explanation offered in court) undergo a shift in purpose and become divorced from theoriginal context in which it was created. However, although the texts might shift or losetheir original meaning, other meaning-making potential (such as being linked to otherlarger societal discourses) might be created.

Some of the discourses about Zuma’s prior indiscretions or lifestyle are transductedfrom the verbal mode to the visual mode (e.g. the shower statement, the heart that visually


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presents the women he had liaisons with). The visual mode has different affordances fromthe linguistic mode (Bezemer & Kress, 2008, p. 171). Affordances refer to both the limit-ations and potential that representation in a specific mode offers (Kress, 2005, p. 12).Still images make use of resources such as position of space, spatial relations, colourshape and so on. This enables the text producer to communicate different meaningsfrom the verbal mode. Kress (2005, p. 14) states that whereas the linguistic mode lendsitself to the unfolding of action and events in time, the visual mode lends itself to depiction.Through the visual mode, more specifically images, salient themes or encounters can bedisplayed.

In the texts analysed here, the visual representations almost become like shorthandfor a particular set of historical and contextual knowledge about Zuma without articulatingit in the verbal form. This sort of depiction is ideally suited to editorial cartoons where spaceis limited but complex opinions are expressed about certain issues or people. In the opinioncolumn and the comic strip where more space is available, prior discourses about JacobZuma are evoked through the more extensive use of the verbal mode (although not exclu-sively so). I wish to argue, however, that the type of resemiotization and transduction thatoccurs in editorial cartoons is not only a result of the generic features of editorial cartoons.Rather, the transduction also serves various ideological purposes. According to Kress (2005,p. 16), images have the potential to be very specific but to occur in a very open order. Bytransducing or resemiotizing key aspects of Zuma from the linguistic to the visual mode, anew kind of narrative which is not limited by the sequential or temporal unfolding ofwritten narratives is created. Thus as opposed to comic strips which are defined by theirsequential ordering, there seems to be some freedom in the way in which a narrative isconstructed about Zuma in the editorial cartoon.

This new narrative of Zuma functions like hypertext, with multiple entry points. Theseentry points are of course pre-selected based on the specific ideology that is being evokedabout Zuma. A number of stories about Zuma’s sexual history are simultaneously beingtold in every text, and these stories are often told through the use of particular images.These images stand for a whole story or a whole discourse about Zuma. According toIedema (2001, p. 33), resemiotization does not produce exact likeness but ‘a multi-channel set of directions; that is a (semiotic) metaphor’. For example, the Zuma showerheadstands as a metaphor for every controversial statement or ill-advised political or socialmove Zuma has made, the heart-shaped drawing with the names of women stands forhis polygamous lifestyle and an image of Jacob Zuma singing Have a baby by me and bea first lady stands for all the questions raised in public discourses in South Africa abouthaving multiple first ladies. These images instantaneously bring these discourses to thefore, displaying them as salient events relevant to the current topic. These texts are there-fore loaded with discourses that question Zuma’s ability to lead South Africa.

The analysis raises many interesting questions which can further assist in under-standing the processes through which intertextuality, interdiscursivity and resemiotizationare achieved in the news media, and what particular ideological purposes they serve. Forexample, is there a specific preference in representing certain issues in one mode ratherthan the other (e.g. are negative issues more likely to be represented in the linguistic orvisual mode)? As Iedema (2003) asks, which aspects of human experience are fore-grounded by representing something in one mode rather than the other? Real progress


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towards answering these questions can be made by taking a multimodal approach that isgrounded in the history of a text. This theoretical orientation allows investigation into themechanisms used to link particular events and issues to broader societal discourses andwill ultimately lead to a better understanding of how certain discourses become andremain dominant.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the contributions made by two anonymous reviewers. I

would also like to acknowledge Tommaso Milani for his comments on an earlier version of

this paper. All errors that remain are entirely my own.

Notes

1. Zapiro is the pseudonym used by cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro. A defamation of character

lawsuit was laid against him by Jacob Zuma, for the ‘raping lady justice’ cartoon which

depicts Jacob Zuma and a few other ANC members holding down ‘Lady Justice’ and

getting ready to rape her. The lawsuit was withdrawn in October 2012.

2. The woman that Jacob Zuma was accused of raping was HIV/AIDS positive. In response to a

question during the trial of how he protected himself against HIV/AIDS, he answered that he

took a shower afterwards to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.

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Marcelyn Oostendorp is a lecturer in the Department of General Linguistics at Stellenbosch

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mailto:[email protected]

the multimodal construction of the identity of politicians: constructing jacob zuma through prior...

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