Encoding and Decoding : Researching the controversy of Kamala Harris’ Vogue cover

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this research is to examine how visual communication can be interpreted in different ways and even in opposition to the creator’s intention, and to understand how different visual signs in images convey meaning to explain audience’s oppositional reading. Through a qualitative methodological approach, a semiotic comparative analysis of two covers of the fashion magazine Vogue featuring Kamala Harris will be carried out, a digital cover and a print cover. Theoretically, the analysis is grounded in postcolonialism, representation, and Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding model of communication. The results suggest that there are signs in the photograph on Vogue’s print cover that can be interpreted from a postcolonial perspective, and both oppositional and preferred readings are discussed.