Kim VS Trump: A Hair Style Duet

Giampaolo Proni

doi:10.6092/issn.2611-0563/10568

Autori

Giampaolo Proni Università di Bologna
He is Professor of Semiotics at the University of Bologna, Department for Life Quality Studies. His first field of research is the philosophy and semiotics of Charles S. Peirce. Other research interests are in applied semiotics, specifically qualitative analysis of urban spaces, consumption behaviour and fashion shopping. Since 2009 his main research activity has focused on the semiotics of design, in the attempt to unify functionalism and symbolism in the light of pragmaticism. He also writes fiction.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0563/10568

Parole chiave:

Semiotics, Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un, Phatic Communication, Semiotics of Fashion

Abstract

When Donald Trump joined the international media circus of politics, first as the Republican candidate and then as the President of the US, his original hair style stirred a widespread curiosity.
Then Trump appeared side by side with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, also the bearer of a very different yet equally unconventional hairdo. The pair formed such a suggestive diptych that I thought the powers of semiotic analysis should be summoned to inquire on that rare and relevant juxtaposition. The present article summarises the outcomes of that analysis. The conclusion suggests that Trump's hair represents a kind of 'autism in self-presentation', while in Kim's case the separation extends to his culture as a whole. In conclusion, the combined consequences of these characteristics of the two personalities lead to the hypothesis that the dialogue they have undertaken may remain less a true substantial confrontation than a mere display of contact.

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