Personalisation of politics, storytelling and conveyed values

Abstract

This descriptive-interpretative synchronous research analyses the discourse of the Galician candidates for the municipal elections from 400 YouTube videos with the aim of establishing a taxonomy of the values conveyed by these politicians. Therefore, the construction of the candidates' image within a context defined by two basic points (the personalisation of politics and storytelling as a narrative technique that contributes to 'fictionalize" (Maarek, 2014) the life of politicians) is hereby discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the elements they include in their discourses. Thus, after conducting both a literature review and a content analysis, the results show the most stressed values in the personal stories of these candidates are associated with qualities such as humility, routine, intellectual/professional background, generosity and closeness. Hence, a discursive strategy seeking to translate and project personal qualities into political action in a surreptitious and hidden way has been detected. This strategy aims to reconcile the traditional goal of pursuing a symbolic construction of authority and the ever more pressing need of using new framings of the candidates. Thus, they are portrayed as a fellow man to which people can relate.