WORKSHOP Introducing Multimodal Analysis

Abstract

More often than not, our messages combine many different modes to mean what we mean, mixing pictures, writing, body language, speaking, music, gestures, intonation, motion, and many other. How is meaning made in multimodal messages, and how can SFL help us understand and explain sophisticated communication like that?

In this workshop we will narrow down the focus of the vast range of possibilities of communicating multimodally to verbo-pictorial texts that combine different modes with a narrative purpose, such as graphic novels or picture books. We will explore the resources of two different grammars, the visual and the verbal, and their potential to make meaning in a unified way, even though contributing in different fashions.

The skills learnt in this workshop will be useful for improving visual and verbal grammatical awareness and for systematic multimodal analyses from a critical perspective. Having a background in SFL grammar is not essential for learning in this workshop.

References:

Elorza, I. (2023). System Networks: A Multimodal Analysis Toolkit for Representations of Migrants and Migration. URI:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/153403 Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, Ch. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Arnold. Second edition. Kress, G. and Van Leeuwen, Th. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. Routledge. Second edition. Moya-Guijarro, A. J. (2014). A Multimodal Analysis of Picture Books for Children. Equinox. Moya-Guijarro, A. J. and Ventola, E. (2022). A Multimodal Approach to Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books. Routledge. Painter, C., Martin, J. and Unsworth, L. (2013). Reading Visual Narratives: Image Analysis of Children’s Picture Books. Equinox. Van Leeuwen, Th. (2008). Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. OUP.