Future Directions in Intermediality and Multimodality: Dialogues Inspired by the Work of Lars Elleström

by Signe Kjaer Jensen (Editor), Matilda Davidsson (Editor)

Overview

This collection brings together leading scholars across disciplines to reflect on the relationship between intermediality and multimodality and future directions for the contemporary mediascape, building on a 2022 Linnaeus University lecture series inspired by the work of the late Lars Elleström.

The volume contributes to ongoing dialogues about media and society, the challenges and opportunities for academia to engage with developments in the evolving mediascape, and interdisciplinary pathways toward engaging with these questions. The book features essays based on live lectures conducted in 2022 honoring the legacy of Lars Elleström, following his untimely death in December 2021. Each chapter features an established figure in such fields as multimodality, intermediality, semiotics, narratology, art history, and adaptation studies. Each essay is prefaced with an introduction by the editors and bookended with a discussion transcribed from the original live presentations. A concluding chapter looks ahead to future directions, opening new lines of inquiry around the possibilities for intermediality and multimodality research toward continuing to build on Elleström’s seminal work in the field.

This book will be of interest to scholars in multimodality, intermediality, and media and communication studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040361863
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/11/2025
Series:	Routledge Studies in Multimodality
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	298
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Signe Kjaer Jensen is an Affiliated Researcher with the Centre for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies (IMS) at Linnaeus University, Sweden.

Matilda Davidsson is a doctoral student in literature at Linnaeus University, Sweden.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Contributors

Chapter Authors

Other Discussants

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Signe Kjaer Jensen & Matilda Davidsson

Elleström: His work and Vision

What is Intermediality?

Lars Elleström’s Media Model

What is Multimodality?

Overview of the Book

References

Section 1: Modelling Intermediality and Multimodality

Introduction to Chapter 2: Media Taxonomy

Matilda Davidsson

Chapter 2. On the Problematics of Building a Formal Media System, or, Why Media Drive Me Crazy

Marie-Laure Ryan

Towards a Media Taxonomy

Comparison with Elleström’s Model

From Tree to Forest Network

Beyond, or Within, Media Borders

Questions and Answers

References

Introduction to Chapter 3: Discussing Medium Specificity and Basic Media Categories

Matilda Davidsson

References

Chapter 3. Lars Elleström and Bottom-up Categorization

Kamilla Elliott

Elliott and Elleström: Shared Traits

Elleström, Elliott, and Adaptation

Future Directions

Questions and Answers

References

Introduction to Chapter 4: Basics of Peircean Semiotics and Philosophy of Mind

Signe Kjaer Jensen

References

Chapter 4. Intermediality and Intersemiotic Translation on Self-inspection

João Queiroz

Problems

Modeling Intersemiotic Translation (IT)

Some Implications

Questions and Answers

Acknowledgments

References

Introduction to Chapter 5: Comparing Intermedial and Multimodal Vocabulary

Signe Kjaer Jensen

References

Chapter 5. The Mutual Complementarity of Lars Elleström’s Model of Intermediality and Current Approaches to Multimodality

John A. Bateman

Defining the Communicative Situation and Incorporating the Social

Media Products

Semiotic Modes: Materiality and Discourse

Combining Intermediality and Multimodality: Applying Textuality

Conclusion

Questions and Answers

References

Section 2: Art Historical Perspectives

Introduction to Chapter 6: Iconology and Media Aesthetics

Matilda Davidsson

Chapter 6. From Iconology to Media Aesthetics

W. J. T. Mitchell

Questions and Answers

References

Introduction to Chapter 7: Intertextuality and Quotation

Matilda Davidsson

References

Chapter 7. Citational Aesthetics: Media Meeting in Intermediality

Mieke Bal

Introduction: “Inter-” for Integration

1) Quoting Names (to restore names to the dead)

2) Halting the News (to give time to those who struggle)

Quotation Subverts Agency and Time (to keep us focused, here and now)

3) Recycling Myths (to bring science and religion into discussion)

Semiosphere: Wavering and Hovering Media

4) Characters as (Inter-) Media Products (to bring theory in for sense-making)

5) Art for the World

Questions and Answers

References

Section 3: New Media

Introduction to Chapter 8: How to Address the Borders of a Qualified Medium and to Situate ‘Narrative’ Within Elleström’s Framework

Signe Kjaer Jensen

References

Chapter 8. How to Succeed in Intermediality Without Really Being Lars Elleström

Thomas Leitch

Restaurant Menus

Interactive Maps and Map Apps

Weather Reports

Conclusion

Questions and Answers

References

Introduction to Chapter 9: Halliday and Discursive Knowledge Construction in Multimodality

Signe Kjaer Jensen

References

Chapter 9. Everything is Intermedial

Kay O’Halloran

Elleström’s Model of Intermediality

Social Semiotics and Human Experience

Technological Ages and Digital Media Technology

Questions and Answers

References

Afterword

Signe Kjaer Jensen & Matilda Davidsson

References

Index