程鹏

Obama as Anti-American: Visual Folklore in Right-Wing Forwarded E-mails and Construction of Conservative Social Identity

This paper investigates the group-building potential of forwarded e-mails through
a visual analysis of negative images about President Barack Obama. We argue
that these e-mails are a form of political digital folklore that may contribute to
constructing participants’ individual and group identities. Images amplify the
impact and believability of the messages, especially when linked to familiar cultural
references and experiences and may lead to increased political polarization
and hostility.