Handbuch Sprache im multimodalen Kontext

Carey Jewitt/Berit Henriksen

6.Social Semiotic Multimodality

Abstract: This chapter gives an introduction to social semiotics, its conceptual origins in linguistics, notably in the work of Halliday, and how it has been developed as an approach within multimodality. The key principles of this approach are discussed, and five key concepts are outlined. The chapter illustrates the application of a social semiotic multimodal approach to the social media platform Pinterest to explore users’ multimodal design of their homepages to construct style, with a focus on their construction of gendered style. The resources of image, colour, and writing are examined, with attention to how their use is shaped through the interaction of social norms and the designed ...