The Semiotic Architecture of Systemic Failure: A Kress and van Leeuwen Multimodal Analysis of a Leadership Evaluation Infographic on Instagram
Abstract
This study aims to describe the construction of meaning and the semiotic architecture of the infographic “Rapor Merah 1,6 Tahun Kepemimpinan Prabowo” (Red Report Card: 1.6 Years of Prabowo’s Leadership), uploaded by the Instagram account @nasional.insight on 8 May 2026. The research employs a descriptive qualitative approach with the method of Multimodal Discourse Analysis framed by the Visual Grammar of Kress and van Leeuwen, which locates visual meaning in three metafunctions: representational, interactional, and compositional. The primary data are the semiotic units of the infographic and the caption of the post, collected through screenshot documentation and then analyzed through an inventory of units, a reading of the three metafunctions, and an ideological synthesis. The findings show three things. First, representationally the text is governed by conceptual processes: the classificational structure forms a covert taxonomy that equalizes nine heterogeneous indicators within a single category of failure; the labelled analytical structure positions the figure of the head of state as a Carrier dissected by nine possessive attributes; and the symbolic structure exploits the dominance of red, chiaroscuro lighting, and the gloomy silhouette of the palace. Second, interactionally the text combines an offer image, a medium shot, and an eye-level angle in order to desacralize authority while producing the irony of spatial proximity without emotional closeness. Third, compositionally the center-margin, ideal-real, and given-new layout, together with graded salience and disparity framing, constructs a discourse of elite isolation amid crisis. The study concludes that data-based political infographics function as instruments of social control and ideological framing, and at the same time offer concrete material for developing critical multimodal literacy in language learning.
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References
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