Resemiotisations across time, space, materials and modes: an analysis of political signage in Venezuela

Abstract

In this article, I apply the notion of resemiotisation to the study of a political sign in Venezuela, to explain its salience and seemingly contradictory meanings. I focus on the sign commonly referred to as “los ojos de Chávez” (the eyes of Chávez), which was initially circulated by government officials in 2012 and has since permeated Venezuela’s landscape. Drawing on photographic data retrieved from Instagram, I track the resemiotisation trajectories of the sign, throughout time across different modalities, materials and spaces and as taken by different actors. The analysis shows that resemiotisation with its historical emphasis and comprehensive approach to language, provide a useful analytical tool for foregrounding the different historical layers of meanings present in the changing semiotic landscape of Venezuela. Yet, I argue that the understandings of materialities that the notion encompass need to be expanded to include not only the semiotic materials of which signs are made of, but also the materials on which they are inscribed.

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