Multimodality and Time: A Social Semiotic Approach

by Theo van Leeuwen

Overview

This ground-breaking book brings together the work of leading theorist, Theo van Leeuwen, on time-based multimodal forms of communication including speech, music, and film.

With chapters on the fundamental meaning-making role of rhythm, time in music, time in film, the representation of time and timing in language, and the visualization of time, this book offers a comprehensive approach to the subject that supplements the author’s earlier work on visual communication. This book is richly illustrated with examples, including analyses of time management texts, everyday interactions such as waitressing in a restaurant, classic and contemporary films, television crime series and documentaries, a wide variety of kinds of music, online educational software, and SmartArt templates for the diagrammatic representation of time-based practices. Every chapter also includes questions and exercises to reinforce and extend learning.

Written in an accessible style, it will be essential reading for students, teachers, and researchers in the field of multimodal communication, whether in communication studies, media studies, or linguistics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032560328
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/05/2025
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Theo van Leeuwen is currently Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Southern Denmark and Honorary Professor at the University of New South Wales. His many influential publications include Introducing Social Semiotics, The Language of Colour, Reading Images (with Gunther Kress), Organizational Semiotics (with Louise Ravelli, Markus Höllerer, and Dennis Jancsary), and Multimodality and Identity, all published by Routledge.

Table of Contents

1. Time and society 2. Rhythm 3. Time in music 4. Time in film 5. Time in language 6. Visualizing time 7. Notes on multimodal analysis