Söderlund, H
Negative assessments in humour: A way of doing gender
Multimodal Communication 1(2), pp. 127-146 July 2012

Being humorous is more than just being able to tell jokes. The uptake of the joke is as important in order to be funny. I have examined the Swedish humour panel show Parlamentet in a conversation- and multimodal-centered analysis. I argue that the representation of gender does play a part in who is able to be humorous, as I see humour as a group achievement. In my examples of women negatively assessing or teasing men on the panel, I am interested in how the other participants react and play along the humorous story. I conclude that women and men tend to have different expectations on who will be able to continue the humorous story and that the distribution of attention in the panel reflect those expectations. The women’s jokes do not render in as much laughter or attention from the panel as the men’s attempt of being humorous.

Martin, J. L.
Language verbalising notation: An intersemiotic analysis of musical notation in student texts
Multimodal Communication 1(2), pp. 147-161 July 2012

Music notation is a fundamental tool for conveying meanings in music and its interaction with verbal language provides valuable insight into musical discourse. The acquisition of both linguistic and notational literacy is important for the academic success of music students who must demonstrate their knowledge and ground their practise through written texts. This paper presents a framework adapted from Unsworth and Cléirigh (2009) for the intersemiotic analysis of language verbalising notation in student research texts. The analysis identifies the valued qualities of notation, the roles of both human and musical participants and the musical and textual circumstances of notational quotes. It further identifies manner and effect as contextually significant aspects generally outside the semiotic potential of notation which are presented in accompanying text. This paper draws on research into the academic literacies of jazz performance students to provide a descriptive foundation for the analysis of writing about music.

Harris, M & Sunderland, N.
Photo elicitation: Commonalities and uniqueness in cross cultural descriptions of a multicultural mental health service
Multimodal Communication 1(2), pp. 163-179 July 2012

This article supports the use of photo elicitation and analysis in multicultural service evaluation research. During a recent qualitative evaluation of a multicultural mental health respite service in Queensland Australia, a research facilitator used a collection of 130 black and white photos to initiate four focus group discussions each consisting of 5-8 participants. The facilitator asked participants to select a photo from the series that best described their service experience and to share the photo and their explanation with the larger group. Our analysis of the images selected by the four focus groups – each representing different cultural backgrounds (Afghan, Sudanese, Tongan and multicultural) – revealed that several images were selected across the different groups. We also found that other images selected closely resembled one another in thematic and relational content. This was not an expected outcome; as each of the focus groups represented a different type of service intervention, delivered by a different organisation with representation from different diverse populations. These outcomes raise a number of methodological issues that warrant further discussion and investigation. We use the current study as a worked example of how photo elicitation can generate connections not only between participants and facilitators but also how it transcends different cultures, languages, and experiences as a way to describe similar service contexts.

de Pedro Ricoy, R.
Multimodality in translation: Steps towards socially useful research
Multimodal Communication 1(2), pp. 181-203 July 2012

This study presents the results of a global survey of professionals in the multimedia industry which was conducted in 2011. Starting from the premise that the prevalence of multimodal communication in our societies has made “accessibility” a crucial concern and translation a necessity, the survey aimed to explore what perceptions are held by multimedia professionals regarding academic research into the translation of multimodal texts and to ascertain what types of study they consider most beneficial. The study is grounded on the belief that such research should neither exclusively serve business interests nor remain within the confines of academia, but rather be targeted towards social benefits. Thus, two key issues arise: first, how scholarly work can be tailored so as to achieve improvements in professional practices that will benefit society at large and, second, how the findings derived from such work can be effectively disseminated.
The survey met with a good response from the multimedia community. This paper presents an overview of the participants’ profile, followed by the summary results of their responses. The ensuing findings are accompanied by references to existing research. These findings reveal a certain lack of awareness (and some distrust) of scholarly work related to multimodality in translation among professionals in the multimedia industry. However, they also indicate the existence of interest in the field and the willingness of the industry to engage with research that would enhance its processes and practices.
Multimodal texts are, by definition, complex semiotic entities and when they are adapted for consumption by users belonging to different communities a variety of mechanisms are used (e.g. dubbing, subtitling, localisation, audiodescription). These are not restricted to modifications to the verbal make-up of the texts or to language transfer, and, arguably due to this reason, the vast majority of participants stated that wider interaction between translation and interpreting specialists, on the one hand, and experts working in relevant disciplines, on the other, is highly desirable. Thus, it will be argued here that a sound interdisciplinary approach to research into multimodality in translation is required in order to make scholarly contributions more socially useful.

Metten, T.
Review of John A. Bateman/Karl-Heinrich Schmidt (2011): Multimodal Film Analysis. How Films Mean. New York/London: Routledge.
Multimodal Communication 1(2), pp. 205-210 July 2012