Analyse why The Big Issue magazine has used an intertextual approach to the referendum on its front cover.

Analyse why The Big Issue magazine has used an intertextual approach to the referendum on its front cover.

How does intertextuality create meaning in this source?
Use of Abba reference (Swedish pop group)
Use of Personality (Nicola Sturgeon, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.)
Use of images
Use of text
Make judgements and reach a conclusion about the advantages of this use of intertextuality to The Big Issue magazine.

The Big Issue has references the EU referendum in there that happened on 23rd June 2016 in their June 13-19 2016 edition. The cover has intertextualised the Swedish pop group ABBA, to create a comedic effect on the EU referendum. The Swedish pop group became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982.

Within the cover, Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party - Remain), David Cameron (Prime Minister - Remain), Boris Johnson (Leave), and Nigel Farage (UKIP - Leave), have been made to look like they are the band members of the pop group. Prime Minister, David Cameron and UKIP Leader, Nigel Farage, are made out to be the female lead vocalists. This portrays the leaders as feminine, who are stereotypically weaker than men. This suggests that their arguments to stay in/out of the EU are weak. Contrasting, Nicola Sturgeons head is placed on the male guitarists body. This suggests that she has the role of a male in parliament, and is therefore less feminine. Despite this, the roles of Sturgeon and Farage in the campaign aren’t as important, so this is why they appear to be positioned more in the background of the image as their faces aren’t as recognisable to the campaign as Cameron and Johnson.  In addition to this, each PM’s head is made to look larger. This contributes to the comedic effect, as they appear to be on the bodies of the pop group so are unlikely to be taken seriously. The facial expressions on the images chosen of the MP’s all appear to have unserious facial expressions. Mocking the MP’s, suggesting that they aren’t doing a very job at leading their campaign.  The outfits on the bodies are in the 70's disco style which could be suggesting that as parliament have been talking about leaving the EU for so long, the discussion is old news so therefore humorous and isn't taken seriously.

Closely linking to the disco theme, there is a disco ball within the top right hand corner of the cover, however it is a globe of the world, rather than a silver sparkling glitter ball. The UK is on the centre of the globe, showing perspective of the size of the country compared to the rest of the world. This suggests that the decision is minor, and that the outcome is clear, even though the decision will have a large effect on the country. Also within the background, there is images blended into the sparkling blue of the ballot paper, and in the bottom right hand corner, and image of a ballot box.

The use of text is also intertextualised with the ABBA theme. The main headline states ' The winner takes it all' which is a song title of one of ABBA's most famous tracks. This relates to the campaign as the side that wins the referendum takes the position in or out of the EU that they were hoping for. The colours chosen also link with the colours used on the masthead. This makes both the texts stand out from the blue background, and also make the cover appear be brought together as the colour scheme links. Not only this, but within the speech bubbles out of the MP's mouths, are song lyrics to ABBA records, which also relate to the campaign, such as the pun in the speech bubble from Cameron mouth, 'knowing me knowing EU' which is a clever play on words, linking the song lyrics to the referendum. Within Farage’s speech bubble ‘states the song title ‘Take a Chance’ which suggest that Farage’s argument isn’t strong as he is taking a chance with his campaign suggesting that it is unknown what is to occur if he leads the UK to leave the EU. Sturgeon’s speech bubble states the ABBA lyric ‘Breaking up is never easy, I know’ This is personal towards the MP as its n first person ‘I’ suggesting that she has experience some difficult breakups in her personal life. This connects to her gender as a female she is stereotypes to make it seem like it is hard to break up from a relationship, suggesting her dependency on a man, whilst the message also conveying that if the UK is to exit the EU than it would be a difficult process.

Advantages of the use of intertextuality to the Big Issue magazine is that it stands out from other magazines or articles that are covering the referendum. This is because some members are portrayed as the opposite sex which creates a comedic effect which amuses the audience, creating a light hearted effect out of the campaign. The use of choosing the popular Swedish band, ABBA, makes the magazine stand out as the 70’s style and song lyrics are recognised by a wide audience and will interest those who also take less interest in reading about the referendum or political stories.