Masculinity, body and nation in the visual communication of Santiago Abascal (Vox) on Instagram during 2020. Analysis of the private profile in his personal account

Abstract

Social networks play a determining role in contemporary politics. Due to the influence of the media politicians turn into celebrities, which has caused the personalization of politics messages by the emergence of celebrity politicians. This process, which has been called celebrification, has an opposite effect: Framing the candidate as an extraordinary character and, simultaneously, making him look like a «normal and ordinary» individual. The aim of this article is to analyze the construction of the image of Santiago Abascal on Instagram (from 1th Jaunary until 31th December), namely in the private field. The proposal analyzes the content displayed on his Instagram account from the beginning of 2020. The methodology is qualitative and quantitative. Subsequently, a textual analysis of the images is used in order to detect the main attributes befitting to Santiago Abascal. The account is built around a concrete image of a Spanish nation which is embodied in the hyper-masculine projection of its leader's physical body and creates an emotional engagement around his figure within his community until they consider him «one of us».