In this course, we will investigate meaning making practices that go beyond language as the sole mode. Communication, though largely thought of as organized through speech and text, relies on a multitude of inputs, from the audio-visual cues in videos, to layout in ad campaigns, over body language and perspective changes, to tactile impressions.
”[D]ifferent means of meaning making are not separated but almost always appear together: image with writing, speech with gesture, math symbolism with writing and so forth. It is that recognition of the need for studying how different kinds of meaning making are combined into an integrated, multimodal whole that scholars attempted to highlight when they started using the term ‘multimodality’” (Jewitt, Bezemer, O’Halloran, 2016: 2).
The first few weeks will focus on some of the theory underlying the various approaches to multimodality linguistics has to offer. We will have a look at the types of research questions that can be asked, how a study can be structured, and what considerations have to be made for annotation of data, analysis, and interpretation. Following that, students will work more independently on smaller-scale projects to explore multimodality in its different forms. Students are welcome to contribute their own project ideas (e.g. literary examples, film scenes, ad campaigns, etc.).
- Dozent/in: Luisa Grabiger
- Dozent/in: Susan Reichelt