Zeitschrift

Multimodal Communication

Herausgegeben von: Sigrid Norris

Sprache: Englisch

Erstveröffentlichung: 1. Mai 2014

Erscheinungsweise: 3 Hefte pro Jahr

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Objective
In essence, all communication is multimodal: we use language, gesture, posture, and other non-verbal modes often at the same time to communicate. We may use many media when conducting research. We may also use creative ways of jotting down what we perceive, i.e. using poetry and other creative writing or art forms to freeze what we understand. We explain the world we investigate to others in multimodal ways.

Multimodal Communication is a venue for researchers in diverse fields of study, who are broaching communication from an interdisciplinary perspective; exploring diverse and multimodal ways to conduct research and illustrate findings. The Journal is interdisciplinary and open to papers from anthropology, through to art, math, psychology, science, sport, and beyond.

Although wide in disciplinary scope, all articles have to develop multimodality in some way. An article may use visuals/writing/sound to explore a theme; be highly theoretical and explain a philosophical point relevant to the study of multimodality; or may be based on an empirical study integrating a number of modes.

Topics
Multimodality of communication processes related to such disciplines, as

Anthropology
Art
Mathematics
Psychology
Science
Sport
Visuals
Writing
Sound
and others

Article formats
Style of exposition is not standardized, authors may send research articles, essays, visual essays or other creative pieces

Ihre Vorteile

Your benefits

Bridging between theoretical and empirical research
International outreach of the journal
Interdisciplinary methodology
Comprehensive outlook on multimodality of communication processes
Broad topics covered by the best researchers

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Multimodality in environmental discourses: on the framing of meat production and consumption

6. Oktober 2025

Judith Visser

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In times of climate change and threatened biodiversity, the meat industry is under pressure: cattle farming produces methane gas and factory farming has a negative impact on biodiversity. Meat-producing companies are confronted with the need to rethink their processes and products in terms of their impact on the environment and to adapt their external communication to changing consumer behaviour; a framing of sustainability and animal welfare seems indispensable, and this must take place not only verbally, but also visually and acoustically. Studies in the field of ecolinguistics traditionally place a clear focus on the analysis of language, metaphors and images. Analyses of the interplay of modes are a research desideratum. Against the background of the omnipresence of the sustainability discourse in a wide variety of media, the state of research thus only selectively reflects the actual use of multimodality in environmental discourse. Using the example of communication under the label La-Viande.fr (Group INTERBEV, Association Nationale Interprofessionelle du Bétail et des Viandes ), the aim of the present study is to explore the following questions: How does the interest group frame meat production and consumption? How do the modes interplay to contribute to this framing?
Open Access
Complex topics visually decoded: a multimodal perspective on infographics in knowledge transfer between experts and laypeople

1. Oktober 2025

Anna Spielvogel

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Knowledge transfer between experts and laypersons often does not involve the creation of parallel specialist and target texts, but rather of multimodal compositions such as infographics. These visual-dominant formats are designed to improve information transfer by presenting specialized knowledge in a comprehensible manner for a wider audience. This contribution investigates the techniques used to “translate” specialist-coded knowledge into the format of the infographic, placing particular emphasis on the multimodal interplay between different semiotic modes. The present analysis is designed as a case study and draws on a selection of three infographics from the Institut national des sciences de l’Univers (INSU), specifically created for climate change communication in collaboration with the media company Bon Pote.
Open Access
A multimodal view on Made in France – the indication of origin in French food advertising

25. September 2025

Antje Lobin

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In saturated markets with interchangeable products information on a product’s geographical origin come increasingly to the fore. This holds particularly true for the food industry. Such a focus on origin also has an impact on genuinely persuasive brand communication. The present article will first provide some theoretical and conceptual clarifications concerning the term semiotic modality as well as typography as a semiotic resource, before outlining the possibilities for indicating origin in advertising communication. In addition to branding elements in the narrower sense (brand name; trademark/brand image; packaging/product design), the origin of a product can be emphasized by the use of labels and certification marks. Subsequently, on the basis of different case examples from France, where so-called economic patriotism has a strong tradition, I will illustrate the multimodal mechanisms of the indication of origin as a quality signal and sales argument. Here it becomes clear to what extent the emphasis on origin is a gradual phenomenon, which must also be seen in the light of semiotic criticism.
Open Access
On metaphor in political cartoons between mono- and multimodality – France in the corona crisis

24. September 2025

Sabine Heinemann

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Metaphors can be understood as mental, similarity-based mappings between concepts independent of each other. Verbal metaphors are widespread in journalistic texts, whereas in political cartoons, both monomodal and multimodal metaphors can be found. With the latter, it would appear that at least a partial representation of the source and target domain in the different modes is fundamental. Nevertheless, even in the case of a parallel of linguistic and pictorial metaphor, redundancy is seldom observed. In rare instances, a double monomodal realization (cross-modal metaphors) can be found. Accordingly, the boundary between mono- and multimodal metaphors can be situated on a continuum. Focusing on the corona pandemic and its treatment in the cartoons by Plantu for Le Monde , the article first examines the verbal metaphors used in the press coverage in 2020 (and the televised speeches of President Macron) which is intended to serve as a basis for comparison; at the same time, the focus is on the implementation of the metaphors in question. As part of the detailed analyses of the cartoons, particular emphasis is placed on the problem of distinguishing between mono- and multimodal metaphors which allows for the reference to a continuum.
Open Access
Relevance theory as the foundation for an inclusive theory of communication

23. September 2025

Charles Forceville

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Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory (RT) is well-equipped to develop into an inclusive theory of multimodal – and indeed all other – communication. However, in its “classic” variety, it typically focuses on spoken communication in a face-to-face situation. To fulfil its promise, it needs to be adapted and expanded to be able to accommodate all media, modes, and genres. Forceville (2020. Visual and multimodal communication: Applying the relevance principle. Oxford: Oxford University Press) launches proposals that enable Sperber and Wilson’s classic RT to account for visual and multimodal mass-communication. This paper presents key concepts of RT, responds to criticisms of Forceville’s version of the theory by Ntouvlis (2021. Review of Forceville (2020). Multimodal Communication ), and discusses six visual/multimodal case studies to demonstrate RT’s value for further developing multimodality as a robust scholarly discipline.
Open Access
Picturing the route – the multimodal representation of time and space in tourism discourse

19. September 2025

Monika Messner

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This study investigates the multimodal representation of time and space in print and digital tourism texts, focusing on the interplay between text and image. Using Multimodal Discourse Analysis, it examines how tourism discourse employs various semiotic modes – primarily graphic and visual – to transform sites into sights and influence potential tourist’s choices. Tourism texts are not only multimodal but also dialogical, specialized and promotional. Building on prior research on the persuasive and rhetorical functions of tourism discourse, the paper analyses how visual and verbal elements are combined to evoke destination imagery, convey emotional values, provide sensory immediacy, and shape tourist experiences. These multimodal constructions engage the tourist gaze, a sociocultural process shaping how destinations are viewed through established patterns. The study further explores how these processes manifest in representations of temporal and spatial contrasts between everyday life and vacation, portrayals of distance and proximity, and the integration of time and space with markers of identity.
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The presentation of Guerrilla gardening in social media – a contrastive analysis of multimodal strategies in French and German

1. Januar 2000

Dominique Dias, Nadine Rentel

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This paper explores the multimodal communication strategies of German and French Guerrilla gardening activists on social media. Guerrilla gardening is a phenomenon that originated in New York during the 1970s and has since spread worldwide. In the interests of (re)greening the urban space, the representatives of this Guerrilla gardening movement plant vegetation in different places without official approval. In addition to this, the activists present now their actions on social media in order to increase their reach and convince other people of their cause. By using social media, activists bridge the gap between the online sphere and the physical world, leveraging new possibilities for multimodal communication. The study analyzes a corpus of 304 posts (French/German, X and Instagram). Building on the principles of multimodality theory and contrastive discourse analysis, it investigates the features of social media posts as multimodal texts, focusing on the relationships between the different semiotic codes – particularly written text and static images – in relation to their pragmatic functions. The three-level intersemiotic analysis (micro, meso, macro) reveals limited language/culture-specific multimodal preferences, with variations mainly due to platform-specific communicative styles, suggesting a trend towards globalized design principles.
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Multimodality as a driver of genre emergence in corporate communication: the editorial in Peugeot’s employee magazine

1. Januar 2000

Sara Matrisciano-Mayerhofer

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This chapter examines how multimodality shaped the functional and structural differentiation of the editorial in employee magazines, culminating in its emergence as a distinct corporate genre. Drawing on a diachronic analysis of 167 editorials from Peugeot’s employee magazine, published between 1918 and 2010, it traces the progressive integration of semiotic modes to achieve the magazine’s communicative objectives as an instrument of internal public relations. As a manifestation of the corporate voice, the editorial balances organizational authority with the promotion of community formation and employee identification, embodying managerial discourse that legitimizes organizational practices while cultivating cohesion, engagement, and belonging. This tension is negotiated through the systematic integration of semiotic modes that simulate communicative immediacy and interpersonal connection to reduce the communicative distance intrinsic to mass-mediated, downward organizational communication, creating a new editorial type characterized by mode-spanning incoherence (deliberate semiotic incongruity across modes). This case study demonstrates how multimodal orchestration adapts preexisting genres to new communicative contexts.
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Negotiating the meeting space through laughter: the case of hybrid audio-only versus video-mediated meetings

1. Januar 2000

Elina Salomaa, Julie Janssens, Dorien Van De Mieroop, Esa Lehtinen

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This article explores how laughter is used in hybrid meetings to negotiate the shared meeting space between local and remote participants. We compare two datasets from organizations that use Microsoft Teams for either video-mediated interaction or audio-only interaction. By drawing on multimodal conversation analysis, we show how meeting participants initiate laughter either at or with the remote participant, thus subtly moving between multiple interactional spaces and shaping the participation framework of the meeting. By making the remote participant’s behavior or lack thereof (i.e. silence) noticeable and laughable, the participants collectively work to re-establish the shared meeting space. The study thus contributes to the discussion of the implications of visibility (or lack thereof) in hybrid audio-only and video-mediated meetings.
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Intermodal complementarity and cross-cultural adaptation in children’s animated movies: a multimodal analysis of globalized narratives

1. Januar 2000

Ruihua Zhao, Siyu Zhuang

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Current research on cross-cultural animated narratives predominantly analyzes individual modalities, neglecting how multimodal complementarity mediates the negotiation between cultural specificity and global accessibility. This gap is critical to address, as animation increasingly serves as a vehicle for intercultural dialogue in globally connected societies. Grounded in systemic functional linguistics and socio-semiotics, this study employs a multimodal analytic framework to compare how Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child (2019) and Coco (2017) utilize intermodal strategies to balance cultural authenticity and accessibility. The analysis reveals three core mechanisms: synchronization (strict audiovisual alignment), complementarity (semantic reinforcement across modes), and contradiction (juxtaposition of conflicting cultural codes). Findings demonstrate that (1) Coco (2017) naturalizes Mexican Día de los Muertos rituals through synchronized sensory anchoring and universal theme embedding, (2) Ne Zha (2019) sustains Daoist mythological complexity via staggered symbolic layering and contradiction-driven tension, and (3) both movies scaffold cross-cultural empathy through rhythmically distinct yet complementary multimodal orchestration. The study concludes that intermodal complementarity is a central mechanism for cultural adaptation, offering a dual-path model for globalized storytelling. This model comprises the “immediate sensory harmonization” strategy observed in Coco (2017) and the “contemplative symbolic layering” strategy of Ne Zha (2019), illustrating distinct yet effective approaches to harmonizing cultural locality with global universality.

Special Issue: Multimodality, Multilingualism & Identity; Guest Editors: Andrew Jocuns and Freek Olaf de Groot

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Special Issue: The Multimodality of Cringe Comedy in Screen and Digital Media Productions; Guest Editors: Nashwa Elyamany and Deena Shazly Elshazly

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Special Issue: Multimodal (inter)action analysis: an analytical framework for the future; Guest Editor: Jarret Geenen

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Multimodal Approaches in ESP: Innovative Research and Practice; Guest Editors: Belinda Crawford Camiciottoli and Inmaculada Fortanet-Gómez

Die Zeitschrift Multimodal Communication veröffentlicht Sonder- und Themenhefte, die sich auf wichtige und neu aufkommende Themen im Bereich der Forschung konzentrieren. Die Zeitschrift hat ein strenges Verfahren eingeführt, um sicherzustellen, dass alle Manuskripte für Sonderausgaben denselben Qualitätsstandards und Peer-Review-Verfahren unterliegen wie reguläre Manuskripte. Weitere Informationen über die Peer-Review-Politik der Zeitschrift finden Sie in den "Hinweisen für Autoren".

Aktuelle Themenhefte

CiteScore	1.2	2024, Scopus (Elsevier B.V., 2025)
SCImago Journal Rank	0.293	2024, SJR (Scimago Lab, 2025; Data Source: Scopus)
Source Normalized Impact per Paper	0.724	2024, CWTS Journal Indicators (CWTS B.V., 2025; Data Source: Scopus)

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All articles are double-blind peer-reviewed. To send a submission for Multimodal Communication, please go to https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dgmc, register and submit your contribution to the new online system
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Contributions submitted to this journal must be written in clear and concise English
Only material that has not been sent elsewhere for review can be reviewed　
Only unpublished material can be accepted, and authors may not republish their paper in the same or similar form
Length of articles depends upon many things and we would like to see a variety of different kinds, formats, and styles of articles (word-count can be anywhere up to about 7,000 or even 8,000 words). What counts is the substance and how well developed the article is for what it is trying to achieve
How many images you will need will depend upon the data that is presented and the style of article chosen. Some articles may have no images at all, while others will have more images than words; and there will be much variety between these extremes. It all depends upon what is being discussed
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Formatting: Please keep formatting simple as we will re-format in-house. We prefer if you do not use templates, but a regular .doc-type file

Style guide for reviews

If you are interested in writing a review for us, please contact Shri Ramakrishnan via email at　shri018@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Multimodal Communication’
Reviews should be around 1,500 words long
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Once your article is accepted you have the option to publish it open access
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Authors have the option to publish their article under an open access license. The standard article processing charge for a hybrid open access article is 2,400 Euro (plus VAT if applicable). Please note that corresponding authors from institutions with which we have a transformative agreement, can publish open access without paying the fee. More information on the eligible institutions and articles can be found here.

Editorial Board

Editor
Sigrid Norris; School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington; New Zealand

Editorial Assistant
Jarret Geenen, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, Radboud University; Netherlands

Review Editor
Jesse Pirini; School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington; New Zealand

Editorial Board

Elisabeth Adami; University of Leeds, UK
Najma Al Zidjaly; Sultan Qaboos University; Oman
John Bateman; Bremen University; Germany
Emilia Djonov; Macquarie University, NSW; Australia
Gaëlle Ferre; Chemin de la Censive du Tertre; France
Rodney H. Jones; City University of Hong Kong; China
Rick Iedema; University of Technology Sydney; Australia
Pia Lane; University of Oslo, Norway
Jay Lemke; University of California, San Diego; USA
Carmen Daniela Maier; Aarhus University; Denmark
David McNeill; The University of Chicago; USA
Meredith Marra; Victoria University of Welington; New Zealand
Sarah Pink; Loughborough University; UK
Pirkko Raudaskoski; University of Aalborg; Denmark
Martin Reisigl; University of Bern; Switzerland
Jürgen Streeck; The University of Texas at Austin; USA
Theo van Leeuwen; University of Technology Sydney; Australia
Karen Wohlwend; Indiana University; USA

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eISSN:

2230-6587

Sprache:

Englisch

Verlag:

De Gruyter Mouton

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Erstveröffentlichung:

1. Mai 2014

Erscheinungsweise:

3 Hefte pro Jahr

eISSN: 2230-6587

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