Description
In this talk, I will explore the implications of multimodality research, or multimodal semiotics, for our understanding of contemporary digital culture. Multimodality has been one of the central discussion and development points within semiotics, linguistics, as well as communication and media studies in the last three decades. While several disciplines and fields of research have been undergoing a multimodal turn or might find themselves still within the stage of growth of using multimodal concepts and theories, the wider impact of multimodal analyses on our society and culture in the digital era has yet to be explored more comprehensively. My aim is therefore to discuss possibilities and challenges of using multimodality research for a broader mapping of this digital culture and a safe navigation of the complexities of today's digitized and AI-driven world.I will begin with a brief report of recent findings from multimodal analyses exploring the semiotic similarities and differences of digital and non-digital media artifacts. Comparing narrative media such as films and TikTok videos, comics and their digital transmedia alternatives, as well as instructional communicative artifacts such as instruction posters and interactive VR learning apps, I will address the question whether the digitization of these cultural forms or their purely digital origin have an impact on our understanding and interpretation of these media.
Building on the analytical results, I will, in a second step, discuss the need for conceptual distinctions of these media with a particular multimodal lens. For this, I will give an overview of the most relevant theoretical concepts from multimodal semiotics, delving deeper into the notions of materiality, mediality, and 'digitality'.
In a third and final step, I will then show how such an understanding and awareness of these theoretical concepts and their use in our daily digital communication forms a comprehensive multimodal literacy that helps mastering both traditional as well as newly emerging cultural and AI practices in our digitally complex world.
| Periode | 24-sep.-2024 |
|---|---|
| Evenementstitel | 17th International Congress of the German Society of Semiotics (DGS). Signs. Cultures. Digitality. |
| Evenementstype | Conference |
| Locatie | Landau, GermanyToon op kaart |
| Mate van erkenning | International |