Introduction to Multimodal Analysis / Edition 2

by Per Ledin, David Machin

Overview

Introduction to Multimodal Analysis is a unique and accessible textbook that critically explains this ground-breaking approach to visual analysis.

Now thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition reflects the most recent developments in theory and shifts in communication, outlining the tools for analysis and providing a clear model that students can follow. Chapters on colour, typography, framing and composition contain fresh, contemporary examples, ranging from product packaging and website layouts to film adverts and public spaces, showing how design elements make up a visual language that is used to communicate with the viewer. The book also includes two new chapters on texture and diagrams, as well as a helpful image index so students can clearly understand how images and multimodal texts can be analysed from different perspectives.

Featuring chapter summaries, student activities and a companion website hosting all images in full colour, this new edition remains an essential guide for students studying multimodality within visual communication in linguistics, media and cultural studies, critical discourse analysis or journalism studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350069145
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/23/2020
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Per Ledin is Professor in Swedish at the Department of Culture and Education, Södertörn University, Sweden

Table of Contents

List of Images viii

Preface to the Second Edition xi

Introduction 1

What is the specific approach taken in this book? 5

The social uses of design features 7

Outline of the chapters 10

1 What is multimodal analysis? 13

The idea of choice in communication 13

Semiotic choice 15

Materials and affordances 16

Discourse 18

Discourses and social practices 20

The shift to multimodal communication 21

Technologization 21

Integrated design 22

A new commodified communication setting moral standards 24

Coding of semiotic resources 31

Identifying codes 33

2 Pictures and images 37

A semiotic approach: Denotation and connotation 38

Carriers of connotation 42

Representing participants 48

Actions in images 55

3 Modality: Experiencing the world through images 61

The origins of modality as a linguistic concept 63

Modality markers and scales 66

Kinds of visual modality 74

Perspective in images 80

Engagement and frontal perspective 81

Non-frontal perspective 82

Angles 83

Distance 84

4 The meaning of colour in visual design 87

Patterns in colour as a semiotic resource 88

Colour as a semiotic system 89

The value of colours 96

Semiotics of colour 98

The dimensions of colour 98

5 The meaning of typography 111

Typeface and design 114

Typography as a semiotic system 117

Inventory of typographic meaning potential 124

6 Textures and materiality 139

Texture as a semiotic system 140

The dimensions of texture 149

Materials 157

7 Composition and page layout 167

Some basic principles of salience 170

Framing 178

Images and composition: Coordination and hierarchies 186

8 Diagrams and flow charts 193

Classification 197

Composition and orientation 205

Composition and grouping 208

Causality 210

Temporality 212

Bibliography 219

Image Index 225

Index 235

Editorial Reviews

This second edition of Introduction to Multimodal Analysis constitutes once again a persuasive invitation to scrutinize 'the way things look' as powerful expressions and instruments of culture. Authors Machin and Ledin provide scholars from a variety of backgrounds with a thoroughly updated tool to systematically and critically interrogate the numerous choices and decisions that go into designing the visual and multimodal aspects of artefacts in society.” —Luc Pauwels, Professor of Visual Research Methods, University of Antwerp, Belgium

“With a fully updated table of contents, the second edition of Introduction of Multimodal Analysis offers a contemporary perspective on the multiple ways in which communication 'works' in everyday life. Drawing from classic and cutting-edge scholarship on multimodality, the book is an accessible and rigorous guide to analyzing colour, typography, images, texture, composition, and diagrams. A must-have for students and researchers of culture, media, communication, and design.” —Giorgia Aiello, Associate Professor of Media and Communication, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

“Retaining its strength as a comprehensive and accessible toolkit for multimodal analysis, this new edition of Machin's highly successful book engages with the latest developments in the field, updates the examples, and adds an excellent introduction to the theoretical foundations and the critical importance of multimodal analysis.” —Theo van Leeuwen, Professor of Language and Communication, The University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

From the Publisher