Abstract
This article presents a tripartite framework for analyzing multimodal texts. The three analytical perspectives presented include: (1) perceptual, (2) structural, and (3) ideological analytical processes. Using Anthony Browne’s picturebook Piggybook as an example, assertions are made regarding what each analytical perspective brings to the interpretation of multimodal texts and how these perspectives expand readers’ interpretive repertoires. Drawing on diverse fields of inquiry, including semiotics, art theory, visual grammar, communication studies, media literacy, visual literacy and literary theory, the article suggests an expansion of the strategies and analytical perspectives readers being to multimodal texts and visual images. Each perspective is presented as necessary but insufficient in and of itself to provide the necessary foundation for comprehending texts. It is through an expansion of the interpretive strategies and perspectives that readers bring to a multimodal text, focusing on visual, textual, and design elements that readers will become more proficient in their interpretive processes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiello, Giorgia. (2006). Theoretical Advances in Critical Visual Analysis: Perception, Ideology, Mythologies, and Social Semiotics. Journal of Visual Literacy, 26(2), 89–102.
Albers, Peggy. (2007). Visual Discourse Analysis: An Introduction to the Analysis of School-Generated Visual Texts. In D. W. Rowe, R. T. Jiminez, D. L. Compton, D. K. Dickinson, Y. Kim, K. M. Leander & V. J. Risko (Eds.), 56th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 81–95). Oak Creek, WI: NRC.
Albers, Peggy. (2008). Theorizing Visual Representation in Children’s Literature. Journal of Literacy Research, 40(2), 163–200.
Anstey, Michele, & Bull, Geoff. (2006). Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies: Changing Times, Changing Literacies Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Arnheim, Rudolf. (1986). Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Barthes, Roland. (1977). The Rhetoric of the Image. In R. Barthes (Ed.), Image, Music, Text (pp. 32–51). New York: Hill and Wang.
Beach, Richard, Encisco, Patricia, Harste, Jerome, Jenkins, Christine, Raina, Seemi Aziz, Rogers, Rebecca, Short, Kathy G., Sung, Yoo Kyung, Wilson, Melissa, & Yenika-Agbaw, Vivian. (2009). Exploring the “Critical” in Critical Content Analysis of Children’s Literature. In K. M. Leander, D. W. Rowe, D. K. Dickinson, M. K. Hundley, R. T. Jiminez & V. J. Risko (Eds.), 58th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 129–143). Oak Creek, WI: NRC.
Beardsley, Monroe C. (1981). Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company.
Berger, John. (1972). Ways of Seeing. London:Penguin.
Browne, Anthony. (1986). Piggybook. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Chandler, David. (2007). Semiotics: The Basics, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Chauvin, B. A. (2003). Visual or Media Literacy? Journal of Visual Literacy, 23(2), 119–128.
Cohn, Neil. (2007). A Visual Lexicon. The Public Journal of Semiotics, 1(1), 35–56.
Crawford, Patricia A. (2000). Inside the Picture, Outside the Frame: Semiotics and the Reading of Wordless Picture Books. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 15(1), 66–80.
Culler, Jonathan. (1997). Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dondis, Donis A. (1973). A Primer of Visual Literacy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Duncum, Paul. (2004). Visual Culture isn’t Just Visual: Multiliteracy, Multimodality, and Meaning. Studies in Art Education, 45(3), 252–264.
Elkins, John. (2008). Visual Literacy. New York: Routledge.
Fairclough, Norman. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.
Fish, Stanley. (1980). Is There a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Fleckenstein, Kristie S. (2002). Inviting Imagery into Our Classrooms. In K. S. Fleckenstein, L. T. Calendrillo & D. A. Worley (Eds.), Language and Images in the Reading-Writing Classroom (pp. 3–25). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Freebody, Peter. (1992). A Socio-Cultural Approach: Resourcing Four Roles as a Literacy Learner. In A. Watson and A. Beadenhop (Eds.), Prevention of Reading Failure (pp. 26–41). Sydney: Ashton-Scholastic.
Freebody, Peter, & Luke, Allan. (1990). Literacies Programs: Debates and Demands in Cultural Context. Prospect: Australian Journal of TESOL, 5(7), 7–16.
Genette, Gerard. (1997). Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Translated by J. E. Lewin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Golden, Joanne M., & Gerber, Annyce. (1990). A Semiotic Perspective of Text: The Picture Story Book Event. Journal of Reading Behavior, 22(3), 203–219.
Gombrich, E. H. (1961). Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation, 2nd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Goodman, Nelson. (1976). Languages of Art. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company.
Graham, Judith. (1990). Pictures on the Page. Exeter: Short Run Press.
Halliday, Michael A. K. (1975). Learning How to Mean: Explorations in the Development of Language. London: Elsevier.
Halliday, Michael A. K. (1978). Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London: Edward Arnold.
Harvey, Stephanie, & Goudvis, Anne. (2000). Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Hassenmuller, Christine. (1987). Panofsky, Iconography, and Semiotics. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 35, 289–301.
Hassett, Dawnene D., & Schieble, Melissa B. (2007). Finding Space and Time for the Visual in K-12 Literacy Instruction. English Journal, 97(1), 62–68.
Idema, Rick. (2001). Analysing Film and Television: A Social Semiotic Account of Hospital: An Unhealthy Business. In T. van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of Visual Analysis (pp. 183–204). London: Sage.
Jewitt, Carey, & Kress, Gunther (Eds.). (2003). Multimodal Literacy. New York: Peter Lang.
Jewitt, Carey, & Oyama, Rumiko. (2001). Visual Meaning: A Social Semiotic Approach. In T. van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of Visual Analysis (pp. 134–156). London: Sage.
Kress, Gunther. (2003). Literacy in the New Media Age. London: Routledge.
Kress, Gunther. (2010). Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. London: Routledge.
Kress, Gunther, & van Leeuwen, Theo. (1996). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge Falmer.
Leeds-Hurwitz, Wendy. (1993). Semiotics and Communication: Signs, Codes, Cultures. Hillsdale, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
Lewis, David. (2001). Reading Contemporary Picturebooks: Picturing Text. London: Routledge Falmer.
Lister, Martin, & Wells, Liz. (2001). Seeing Beyond Belief: Cultural Studies as an Approach to Analyzing the Visual. In T. van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of Visual Analysis (pp. 61–91). London: Sage.
Martineo, Radan, & Salway, Andrew. (2005). A System for Image-Text Relations in New (and Old) Media. Visual Communication, 4(3), 337–371.
Messaris, Paul. (1994). Visual Literacy: Image, Mind, & Reality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Messaris, Paul. (2003). Visual Communication: Theory and Research. Journal of Communication, 53(3), 551–556.
Mirzeoff, Nicholas. (1998). What is Visual Culture? In N. Mirzeoff (Ed.), The Visual Culture Reader. London: Routledge.
Moebuis, William. (1986). Introduction to Picturebook Codes. Word & Image, 2(2), 141–158.
Moss, Barbara. (2003). Exploring the Literature of Fact: Children’s Nonfiction Trade Books in the Elementary Classroom. New York: Guilford Press.
Moss, Pamela A., Phillips, Denis C., Erickson, Frederick, Floden, Robert E., Lather, Patti A., & Barbara Schneider, L. (2009). Learning from Our Differences: A Dialogue Across Perspectives on Quality in Educational Research. Educational Researcher, 38(7), 501–517.
Nikolajeva, Maria, & Scott, Carole. (2000). The Dynamics of Picturebook Communication. Children’s Literature in Education, 31(4), 225–239.
Nodelman, Perry. (1984). How Picture Books Work. In H. Darling & P. Neumeyer (Eds.), Image and Maker: An Annual Dedication to the Consideration of Book Illustration (pp. 1–13). La Jolla, CA: Green Tiger Press.
Owocki, Gretchen. (2003). Comprehension: Strategic Instruction for K-3 Students. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Panofsky, Erwin. (1955). Meaning in the Visual Arts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rose, Gillian. (2001). Visual Methodologies. London: Sage.
Samara, Timothy. (2007). Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual. Beverly, MA: Rockport.
Scholes, Robert E. (1985). Textual Power: Literary Theory and the Teaching of English. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Scott, Linda M. (1994). Images in Advertising: The Need for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric. Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 252–273.
Semali, Ladislaus. (2003). Ways with Visual Languages: Making the Case for Critical Media Literacy. The Clearing House, 39(3), 271–277.
Serafini, Frank. (2009). Understanding Visual Images in Picturebooks. In J. Evans (Ed.), Talking Beyond the Page: Reading and Responding to Contemporary Picturebooks (pp. 10–25). London: Routledge.
Serafini, Frank, & Ladd, Sophie M. (2008). The Challenge of Moving Beyond the Literal in Literature Discussions. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 4(2), 6–20.
Barry, Seward, & Marie, Anne. (1997). Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image, and Manipulation in Visual Communication Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Siegel, Marjorie. (2006). Rereading the Signs: Multimodal Transformations in the Field of Literacy Education. Language Arts, 84(1), 65–77.
Siegel, Marjorie, & Panofsky, Carolyn P. (2009). Designs for Multimodality in Literacy Studies: Explorations in Analysis. In K. M. Leander, D. W. Rowe, D. K. Dickinson, M. K. Hundley, R. T. Jiminez & V. J. Risko (Eds.), 58th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 99–111). Oak Creek, WI: NRC.
Sipe, Lawrence R. (1998). How Picture Books Work: A Semiotically Framed Theory of Text-Picture Relationships. Children’s Literature in Education, 29(2), 97–108.
Smith-Shank, Deborah Lee. (2004). Semiotics and Visual Culture: Sights, Signs, and Significance. In Deborah L. Smith-Shank (Ed.), Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.
Snow, Catherine and Sweet, Anne. (2003). Rethinking Reading Comprehension. New York: Guilford.
Stafford, Barbara Marie. (2008). The Remaining 10 Percent: The Role of Sensory Knowledge in the Age of the Self-Organizing Brain. In J. Elkins (Ed.), Visual Literacy (pp. 31–58). New York: Routledge.
Stolnitz, Jerome. (1960). Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art Criticism. Boston: Houghtonn Mifflin Company.
Sturken, Marita, & Cartwright, LIsa. (2001). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Unsworth, Lee. (2002). Changing Dimensions of School Literacies. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 25(1), 62–77.
Unsworth, Len, & Wheeler, Janet. (2002). Re-Valuing the Role of Images in Reviewing Picture Books. Reading, 36(2), 68–74.
van Leeuwen, Theo, & Carey, Jewitt. (2001). Handbook of Visual Analysis. London: Sage.
van Straten, Roelof. (1994). An Introduction to Iconography. London: Taylor & Francis.
Williamson, Judith. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars.
Wolcott, Anne. (1996). Is What You See What You Get? A Postmodern Approach to Understanding Works of Art. Studies in Art Education, 37(2), 69–79.
Zammit, Katina. (2007). Popular Culture in the Classroom: Interpreting and Creating Multimodal Texts. In A. McCabe, M. O’Donnell & R. Whittaker (Eds.), Advances in Language and Education (pp. 60–76). New York: Continuum.
Zeki, Semir. (1999). Art and the Brain. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6(6–7), 76–96.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Dr. Frank Serafini is an author, illustrator, photographer, educator, musician, and an Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Children’s Literature at Arizona State University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Serafini, F. Reading Multimodal Texts: Perceptual, Structural and Ideological Perspectives. Child Lit Educ 41, 85–104 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-010-9100-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-010-9100-5