Ricerc@Sapienza

Through the semiotic analysis of tweets and posts shared by Matteo Salvini over the period 2012-2019, were selected the dysphoric patemical isotopies of his electoral discourse, among which fear stands out. Salvini often argues his ideological positions through fear and is also thanks to the continuous expression of his frames of mind that he is the most followed Italian politician on social networks, because he is considered by the public as a true, genuine, human character, proud of his emotions. Salvini continually updates its characterizing affective dispositions through terms such as “disgusting”, “bulldozer”, “invasion”, or through images with «strong referential density» (Bertrand 2000: 246, trans. mine), or via Facebook live videos, realized in selfie mode to enhance every expression of his face. Salvini topics are linked by passionate ties, which oscillate between euphoria and dysphoria, designed to triggering in the public an emotional involvement aimed at the primary needs and at the exaltation of the evocative power of Italianness, whose stereotyped representation educates the expression of the value judgments oriented by sovereignty and populism. Therefore, some exemplary social media texts will be proposed to demonstrate how Matteo Salvini has built and continues to build his discourse by modulating various types of fear.