The aim of the present paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the role of heraldry, in particular of para-heraldic devices known as “badges”, in 15th-century England. The case chosen for examination is that of the white rose, one of the major badges of Edward IV. The data consists of four contemporary texts in which Edward is referred to as the “rose”, analysed against the background of the use of the white rose of York as a heraldic device. (...) This includes surviving artefacts ranging from effigies to stained glass to seals and manuscript illuminations, as well as contemporary descriptions and depictions of those artefacts. Using the methodological apparatus of cognitive linguistics, specifically the multimodal metaphor and metonymy analysis, the author examines the interplay between language and heraldry. The results show that while the primary function of the white rose and of other badges employed by Edward IV was to emphasize his heritage and thus invite a metonymic reading, the badge inspired other, metaphorical readings, which were employed rhetorically by his supporters. In this context, the concept of the badge may be reinterpreted as a metaphtonymy. The analysis supports the view of heraldry as an integral element of medieval society. From a semiotic perspective, heraldry should be seen as a dynamic system that could be exploited creatively to suit the needs of its users, which in turn corresponds to the dynamic theory of metaphor. (shrink)

Intersemiotic projection is one of the most common configurations in the knowledge construction process of academic comics. Although previous studies address some general features of intersemiotic projection, further research on interdependency relations of intersemiotic projection is needed in order to map out the whole system. This study, based on the social-semiotic approach to multimodal studies, proposes a systemic framework of image-text paratactic and hypotactic projection in academic comics. This framework identifies three sub-categories of paratactic projection and hypotactic projection, respectively: Emergent, (...) Adjoined, Sequential, Compound, Subsumed, and Fused. The use of these projection configurations contributes to the realization of the communicative purposes of academic comics to evidence, exemplify, emphasize, explain, elaborate, and visualize the discussed knowledge. This research attempts not only to contribute to the theoretical development of multimodality from the social-semiotic perspective by refining and enlarging the multimodal hypotactic projection framework but also to provide an effective and applicable tool for comics analysis. (shrink)

Animation is widely acknowledged for dynamically visualizing information and has been increasingly used in educational context. However, the growing presence of educational animation has not been accompanied by well-informed studies that focus on the semiotic features of animation. An emerging perspective influenced by Social Semiotics and Systemic Functional Linguistics greatly complements the current trend of animation studies in the field of science education. Studies taking that perspective model animation as stratified systems (consisting of an expression plane and a content plane) (...) of meaning-making options. Building on their work, this paper further develops the systems of animation on the two planes. Besides the concept of stratification, this paper also introduces a metafunctional perspective for the modeling of animation, focusing on building the ideational meaning system and textual meaning system for animation on the content plane based on an examination of online science animations. It is found that educational animation is not homogenous: animation can construe different human experience and can be used to fulfill different functions. The paper closes with a discussion of the advantages of adopting a stratified metafunctional model in studying animation and the implications for future studies in the field of multimodal semiotics and science education. (shrink)

Ledin and Machin's critique of the use of some current approaches to multimodality for the purposes of critical discourse studies raises some important methodological concerns that need to be addressed. However, both the particular position they develop as well as some of the key points they raise are themselves problematic. In this response, I argue that Ledin and Machin misconstrue some significant aspects of the body of theory they critique and, as a consequence, offer a potentially misleading view of the (...) relevant state of the art in multimodality. I suggest that pursuing closer alignments with theoretically more nuanced accounts of multimodality would allow the account that Ledin and Machin propose to be revised in ways better suited to the task of conducting empirically-driven multimodal critical discourse studies. (shrink)

ABSTRACTIn Critical Discourse Studies and in other linguistics oriented scholarly journals we now see more research which draws upon multimodality as part of carrying out analyses of how text...

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the EU confirms the protection of personal data as a fundamental human right and affords data subjects more control over the way their personal information is processed, shared, and analyzed. However, where data are processed by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, asserting control and providing adequate explanations is a challenge. Due to massive increases in computing power and big data processing, modern AI algorithms are too complex and opaque to be understood by most data (...) subjects. Articles 15 and 22 of the GDPR provide a modest regulatory framework for automated data processing by, among other things, mandating that data controllers inform data subjects about when it is being used, and its logic and ramifications. Nevertheless, due to the phrasing of the articles and the numerous exceptions they allow, doubts have arisen about their effectiveness. In this paper, we empirically evaluate the quality and effectiveness of AI disclosures as mandated by the GDPR. By means of an online survey (N = 835), we investigated how data subjects expect to be informed about the automated processing of their data. We then conducted a content analysis of the AI disclosures of N = 100 companies and organizations. The combined findings reveal that current GDPR-mandated disclosures do not meet the expectations and needs of data subjects. Explanations drawn up following the guidelines of the generic formulations of the GDPR differ widely and are often vague, incomplete and lack transparency. In our conclusions we identify a path towards standardizing and optimizing AI information notices. (shrink)

This article approaches sensory modalities as semiotically active factors and organizing principles in meaning-making. The focus will be on the special case where modalities mismatch in film – i.e., the soundtrack and visuals present contradictory meanings. The conflict can be characterized by the concept of synthesis that emerges in theories of Eisenstein, Barthes, Jakobson, Lotman, and cognitivists. The artistic functions of such synthesis will be discussed with the help of examples from selected feature films. In the first place, conflicting modalities (...) are inspected in the light of Juri Lotmanʼs theory of two incompatible, but still complementary languages that make up a mechanism for generating new information. In addition, the prospects of evaluating modality conflicts will be touched upon, dismissing synchrony and redundancy as the scale parameters, but acknowledging Lotmanʼs model of space as a primary modeling system that is capable of representing semantic conflicts. (shrink)