Hart, Christopher (2026) What’s the point of Donald Trump? : Deictic gestures in the service of right-wing populism. Social Semiotics, 36 (3). pp. 501-525. ISSN 1035-0330
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Gesture is an important semiotic resource by means of which politicians communicate values, construct identities and manage live performances. Previous studies have examined specific gestural types, such as the precision grip, to provide profiles of both their formational features and their persuasive or rhetorical functions. One type of gesture whose forms and functions have not been explored in the context of political communication is pointing. This paper investigates pointing in the spoken performance of Donald Trump. Pointing gestures are identified and coded according to direction as well as other formational features. Co-speech is coded according to various grammatical and functional categories. Results show that (i) inward points are associated with first-person references; (ii) outward points are associated with second person and third person/object references; (iii) downward points are associated with locative expressions; (iv) looping marks plurality and inclusiveness and (v) internal complexity is associated with expressions of number, time, sequence and comparison. Analysis of gesture-speech combinations shows how Trump uses pointing in the kinesic performance of right-wing populism to entertain his audience, to engage with them more directly, to steer their attention and to align himself with them as a man of the people.