UNIT 2.

SEMIOTIC AND
MULTIMODAL APPROACHES
Signs, Symbols, and
Metaphor
eng 111
 Objectives
1. Describe symbolism and metaphor
2. Define semiotics and multimodality;
3. identify multimodal texts;
4. analyze the semiotics of posters/ magazine covers;
5. analyze the multimodality of a video/ music video/ Vlog
/tv show; and
6. analyze the given texts using the two approaches.
This is an example
of a symbol the
skull and
crossbones which
can be symbolize;
as poison, pirates
and death
Lesson 1. Symbolism and Metaphor in Art
Visual Symbols
The term ‘symbolism’ was first coined in 1886 to
describe poetry but was soon used to describe visual
art where ideas, psychological content and meaning
took precedence over the realistic depiction of the
natural world.

In artworks, symbols are often used as visual

metaphors, where an object or form refers to or
“strands” for something more complex or different.
Symbolism is one of the
most important
elements in giving your
art depth and meaning.

Symbols can be very

broad, like a storm
that symbolizes danger,
or a crow that
symbolizes death.
Or you can use more
specific symbols, like a
broken mirror that
symbolizes separation
or insecurity.
Interpretation of symbols in artworks depends upon your cultural capital,
use of intelligence, imagination and creative thinking.

Look at these common symbols, what do they symbolize to you?

What do the colors, red, black, and white commonly signify?
Visual Metaphors
“Metaphor colors our language and enriches our
visual representations…used as a device it can
create relationships between things in the world
and foster creativity in art-making. Metaphors help
us to ‘capture’ our experiences of the world in a
unique way. They give us a way to connect objects,
events, actions that appear unrelated but are part
of our cultural expression.”
-Janet Rentz.
Metaphors and symbolism in artworks are subjective, personal and
cultural. They do not necessarily symbolize the same things to
different people. Some symbols are almost universal while others
may be read differently because of cultural meanings or the person’s
experiences.

According to Vincent Lanier, a prominent Art theorist believes an

artwork is seen by a viewer through a number of different layers.
These include aspects as gender, religious, beliefs, cultural
background, knowledge and
life experience.
For centuries, artists have used visual
metaphors to subtly communicate the
subject of their works. For example,
rather than paint Jesus Christ walking
through Renaissance Florence, many
16th century Italian artists would use
symbols that represented Christ, like a
lamb or dove. These symbols were
metaphors of Christ's presence that
audiences of the time would have
understood. Over the centuries, artists
in the Western canon have built up
their own lexicon of visual metaphors,
symbols that have been passed
through art for generations and that
are still used today.
Clocks, hourglasses, and sundials represents the passage of time. It is a reminder
that our days are numbered. The clock never stops ticking for the mortal.
Butterflies to
symbolize
metamorphosis,
changing or
growing as a
person
 An ocean wave to symbolize
Dove –peace power and strength
A diamond to symbolize A blade to
elegance and value symbolize precision
or danger
A flower to Chains or
symbolize a cage to
fragility symbolize
being
trapped
SEMIOTICS
• Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the study of sign
process (semiosis). It includes the study of signs and sign
processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory,
metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and
communication. It is not to be confused with the Saussurean
tradition called semiology, which is a subset of semiotics.
• The semiotic tradition explores the study of signs and symbols
as a significant part of communications. Different from
linguistics, semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems.
• In the 19th century, Charles Sanders Peirce defined
what he termed "semiotic" (which he sometimes
spelled as "semeiotic") as the "quasi-necessary, or
formal doctrine of signs", which abstracts "what must
be the characters of all signs used by ... an
intelligence capable of learning by experience", and
which is philosophical logic pursued in terms of signs
and sign processes.
• In 1978, The Peirce scholar and editor Max H. Fisch
claimed that "semeiotic" was Peirce's own preferred
rendering of Locke's
•Charles W. Morris- followed Peirce in using the term
"semiotic" and in extending the discipline beyond
human communication to animal learning and use of
signals
• Ferdinand de Saussure, founded his semiotics, which he
called semiology, It is... possible to conceive of a science
which studies the role of signs as part of social life. It
would form part of social psychology, and hence of
general psychology. We shall call it semiology (from the
Greek semeîon, 'sign'). It would investigate the nature
of signs and the laws governing them.
Multimodality
A multimodal text conveys meaning
through a combination of two or
more modes, for example, a poster
conveys meaning through a
combination of written language, still
image, and spatial design. Each
mode has its own specific task and
function (Kress, 2010, p. 28) in the
meaning making process, and usually
carries only a part of the message in
a multimodal text. In a picture book,
the print and the image both
contribute to the overall telling of the
story but do so in different ways.
Examples
Images may simply illustrate or expand on the written story, or can
be used to tell different aspects of the story, even contradicting the
written words (Guijarro and Sanz, 2009, p. 107).
Effective multimodal authors creatively integrate modes in various
configurations to coherently convey the meaning required, ‘moving
the emphasis backwards and forwards between the various modes'
(Cope and Kalantzis, 2009. p. 423) throughout the text.
The complexity of the relationships between the various meaning
or semiotic systems in a text increases proportionately with the
number of modes involved. For example, a film text is a more
complex multimodal text than a poster as it dynamically combines
the semiotic systems of moving image, audio, spoken language,
written language, space, and gesture (acting) to convey meaning.
Types of multimodal texts
Multimodality does not necessarily mean use of technology, and
multimodal texts can be paper-based, live, or digital.
Paper-based multimodal texts include picture books, text books,
graphic novels, comics, and posters.
Live multimodal texts, for example, dance, performance, and oral
storytelling, convey meaning through combinations of various
modes such as gestural, spatial, audio, and oral language.
Digital multimodal texts include film, animation, slide shows, e-
posters, digital stories, podcasts, and web pages that may include
hyperlinks to external pronunciation guides or translations.
Paper-based multimodal texts examples
PICTURE BOOKS

TEXT BOOKS

POSTER
Live multimodal texts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuawQuLT8Io
Digital multimodal texts (digital stories)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKda3fS_8pc
Digital multimodal texts (short film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaWA2GbcnJU
Each mode uses unique semiotic resources to create
meaning (Kress, 2010). In a visual text, for example,
representation of people, objects, and places can be
conveyed using choices of visual semiotic resources such
as line, shape, size, line and symbols, while written
language would convey this meaning through
sentences using noun groups and adjectives (Callow,
2013) which are written or typed on paper or a screen.
(For further information, see Anstey and Bull, 2009;
Callow, 2013; Cloonan, 2011, Kalantzis, Cope, Chan, and
Dalley-Trim, 2016.)
• Multimodal is the combination of two or more of
these modes to create meaning.(combination of
written language, still image, and spatial design)
•Most of the texts that we use are multimodal,
including picture books, text books, graphic novels,
films, e-posters, web pages, and oral storytelling as
they require different modes to be used to make
meaning.
•Each individual mode uses unique semiotic resources
to create meaning (Kress, 2010) and teaching of
these needs to be explicit.