Because Zelensky is winning the war of the image
The image war in Ukraine is being won by Zelensky. Here because. Italics by Giuseppe Gagliano
Putin and Zelensky, all differences in image and more.
Since the attack of the Russian army on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the whole world has witnessed – through the media – a real war of occupation that is taking place almost synchronously on a double ground: military and strategic on the one hand, communicative on the other.
Well, a political figure hitherto almost unknown outside his country has emerged on the international scene and managed to establish himself very quickly as head of state by counting fully in the concert of nations.
Actor and comedian, after playing a history teacher who became President of the Republic in the television series Servant of the People , Volodymyr Zelensky entered politics with no previous experience and was elected to everyone's surprise with 73.2% of the votes against. outgoing president Petro Poroshenko in May 2019. The television narrative was a foreshadowing of the meteoric political rise of a candidate who convinced outside of any partisan system.
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky gained a new stature by suddenly becoming the face of the Ukrainian people's resistance against the Russian aggressor. In doing so, he mobilized his ethos as a leader, acting as a "collector, he who gathers the flock, accompanies and precedes it, illuminates his path with quiet perseverance".
The leader's ethos reflects a politician's ability to educate the population, to show the way forward and set a course to follow. The ethos of the leader is therefore the manifestation of a symbolic power to which the population submits itself more or less freely.
Since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Zelensky has strongly distinguished himself from his direct opponent, both in his attitude and in his communication strategies.
The Ukrainian president appears as a martial leader in military uniform to lead the fight and embody it, Vladimir Putin adopts a much more classic and strict clothing ethos (a tie in this case and a systematic impassivity / fearlessness when talking about this situation) . The contrast is more evident between two images of political power that are opposed, between two staging of political power, between two visions of the authority and the charisma of political leaders.
Vladimir Putin sits in a huge room (the Kremlin's Hall of Saint Catherine) in which the physical and symbolic distance he establishes with his advisers and ministers can only surprise and question from a proxemic point of view. This physical, social and symbolic distancing is a sign of an authority that distances even its closest collaborators. It seems to have returned to the worst hours of the Cold War in the former Soviet Union. Some would rightly see it as the isolation of a head of state who has locked himself up in "his war" and his alternative view of reality.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky multiplies his actions to impose his singularity and take care of the staging of his word, poses and staging that represent him around his men, in the position of a warlord respected and admired by his soldiers.
From the very beginning of this conflict, Zelensky chose to film himself among the population of Kiev dressed in the khaki shirt that he no longer leaves behind during his various video interventions on socio-digital networks.
He is a seasoned actor who uses his former profession to gain a captatio benevolentiae (seeking public benevolence). He films himself to do it in selfie mode, at the height of the man, to give his interventions via digital media an appearance of face-to-face conversation with his people, on the one hand, and with the international community on the other.
If one (Vladimir Putin) particularly likes the solemn televised speeches recorded by the Kremlin press room, the other (Volodymyr Zelensky) is distinguished by the choice of making videos whose production framework and context change regularly (sometimes from the presidential palace , sometimes on the street next to the soldiers monitoring the checkpoints …).
In short, until now, the war of the image has been won by Zelensky.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/zelensky-comunicazione-guerra/ on Wed, 16 Mar 2022 10:50:33 +0000.