This collection examines how ideological meaning is constructed, represented, or realized by multisemiotic texts in different cultures across the globe. With a series of case studies of multimodal texts from different regions across the globe, this collection reveals that, similar to verbal language, the process of meaning-making by use of multimodal semiotic resources is culturally specified and diversified.
This collection consists of four parts. Ch. 1 is an introduction, and the following chapters explore multimodal texts from different parts of the world. Part I (Chs. 2 and 3) focuses on African and Middle Eastern multimodal discourse. Ch. 2 analyzes the narrative and interpersonal structure and sociosemantic functions of Òkó folktales, which reveals that the “Òkó folktale has a specific rhetorical pattern, while its interpersonal features reflect the relationship between the people and the nature: physical and social systems” (35). Ch. 3 investigates 100 multimodal Jordanian print election advertisements and finds that the decoding of image-text advertisements requires cultural knowledge.
Part II (Chs. 4–7) studies European multimodal discourse. Ch. 4 examines the persuasive power of three Modern Greek commercial advertisements showing that the advertisements “employ culturally specific codes and ideology and use a variety of technological means to communicate the desired message” (95). Ch. 5 also reveals how advertisement producers make use of multimodal semiotic resources to localize their propaganda. Ch. 6 explores the role social practices play in constructing new social identities through a social semiotic lens. Ch. 7 discusses alcohol advertising on Aeroflot and proposes cooperation between advertisers and semioticians in designing “socially responsible advertising text” (170).
Part III (Chs. 8–11) focuses on Asian and Oceanian multimodal discourse. Ch. 8 illuminates how fairness ideology in Indian media can be interpreted by referring to intersemiotic complementarity. Ch. 9 analyzes the multimodal presentation of an ancient Chinese scroll painting and reveals that the multimodal painting has successfully constructed a representation of historical social reality. Ch. 10 illustrates that visual-verbal complementarity plays an important role in expressing “metaphorical meaning” in Japanese anti-war placards. Ch. 11 researches into the evaluative meaning of Australian broadsheets using the multimodal appraisal framework.
Part IV (Chs. 12 and 13) studies North and South American multimodal discourse. Ch. 12 discusses three ways by which various multimodal advertisements in California make use of Spanish and English to make meaning. Ch. 13 undertakes a comparative study of the multimodal representation of black people in Brazilian and British images.
This collection proves the applicability of the SFL framework in explaining the multimodal construction of meaning in various regional contexts across the globe. It is a fascinating book for those interested in SFL-Multimodal Discourse Analysis. It will also probably motivate more scholars to undertake related studies.
