This paper presents a stylistic analysis of election banners put up by the ruling and opposition parties during the 2016 state election campaign in Sarawak, Malaysia. The specific aspects analysed were the graphetic, typographical and textual features. Election banners put up during the 2016 state election in three cities in Sarawak were photographed. Using Crystal and Davy’s (2006) framework, 30 election banners were analysed. The results showed different use of banner space by the ruling and opposition parties. The ruling party banners usually have the photograph of the candidate, sometimes side by side with the chief minister’s photograph. The opposition parties put more text on the banners, often capitalised for emphasis. Most of the election banners conveyed clear messages using factual and literal language. In trying to fit as many words as possible into the banner to highlight pertinent issues to the electorate, the opposition parties tended to use phrases separated by commas but the ruling party banners had short sentences, mostly stating the party and candidate to vote for. The study showed that the ruling and opposition political parties use different strategies in their election banners to persuade voters because of their differential status and position in the society.
Aman, I. (2014). Manifesto pilihan raya dan prestasi parti politik utama Malaysia dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13: Suatu analisis linguistik. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 10, 65-82.
Besar, J. A., Fauzi, R., Ghazali, A. S., & Ghani, M. H. A. (2014). Political perceptions in the 2013 general elections: A case study in the federal territory Kuala Lumpur. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 9(2), 135-161.
Besar, J. A., Ghani, M. H. A., Jali, M. F. M., & Lyndon, N. (2015). Pola politik kaum dalam pilihan raya umum Malaysia ke-13: Kajian ke Negeri Selangor. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 11(9), 99-111.
Bremmer, M. (2012). The effects of visuals, focus and congruency in European campaign posters on attention, recall and attitude. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Van Amsterdam, Amsterdam.
Crystal, D. & Davy, D. (1969). Investigating English style. London: Longman.
Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2016). Population distribution and basic demographic characteristic report 2010 (Updated: 05/08/2011). https://www.statistics.gov.my
Dumitrescu, D. (2009). Spatial visual communications in election campaigns: Political posters strategies in two democracies. Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University.
Dumitrescu, D. (2012). The importance of being present: Election posters as signals of electoral strength, evidence from France and Belgium. Party Politics, 18(6), 941-940.
Gbelekale, H. A. (2014). Stylistic analysis of selected political campaign posters within the Ijebu-Ode Municipality, Ogun State, Nigeria. Https://www.academia.edu/9789539/STYLISTIC_ANALYSIS_OF_SELECTED_POLITICAL_CAMPAIGN_POSTERS_WITHIN_THE_IJEBU-ODE_MUNICIPALITY_OGUN_STATE
Geraldine, A. (2016, May 7). Sarawak polls: 35% of registered voters have cast their votes, says Election Commission. The Straits Times Online, updated 12:57 PM
Gomez, J. (2013). Malaysia’s 13th General Election: Social media and its political impact. TU_ASEAN Political Outlook, 57. http://mediamalaysia.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/GE13_Social_Media_James_Gomez-090913.pdf
Kaid, L. L. (2000). Ethics and political advertising. In R. E. Denton (Ed.), Political communication ethics – an oxymoron (pp. 147-150). Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers.
Kamarudin, R. P. (2015, August 3). Why Malaysian elections cost billions. http://www.malaysia-today.net/why-malaysian-elections-cost-billions.
Lee, J. C. H. (2007). Barisan Nasional – Political dominance and the General Elections of 2004 in Malaysia. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 26(2), 38-65.
Li, M. (2009). The stylistic analysis of magazine advertisement: Atkins chocolate chip granola bar. Asian Social Science, 5(9), 63-69.
Lim, H. H., & Ong, K. M. (2006). Electoral campaigning in Malaysia. In C. Schafferer (Ed.), Election campaigning in East and Southeast Asia (pp. 55-78). Hamsphire, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
P?tru?, M. & Monalache, M. (2013). The political poster: An advertising tool on Facebook. International Conference SMART 2013. Social media in academia: Research and teaching, 231-236.
Rajaratnam, U. D. (2009). Role of traditional and online media in the 12th general election, Malaysia. The Journal of the South East Asia Research Centre for Communications and Humanities, 1(1), 33-58.
Russmann, U. (2012). Going negative and going positive: Political parties’ communication strategies in election posters, campaign advertisement and press releases during the 2008 Austrian National Election Campaign. http://paperroom.ipsa.org/app/webroot/papers/paper_14728.pdf.
Seidman, S. A. (2008). Studying election campaign posters and propaganda: What can we learn? International Journal of Instructional Media, 35(4), 413-421.
Sharndama, E. C. & Mohammed, I. (2013). Stylistic analysis of selected political posters and slogans in Yola Metropolis of Adamawa State of Nigeria. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(3), 60-68.
Sualman, I., Salleh, I. M., & Firdaus, N
In-Text Citation: (Daud, Hussin, Taibi, & Hie, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Daud, A. I. A., Hussin, S. H., Taibi, M., & Hie, T. S. (2018). Stylistic Analysis of Election Banners of Ruling and Opposition Parties in 2016 Sarawak State Election. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(14), 34–50.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
