SEMIOTIC REMEDIATION: ANALYZING MEANING POTENTIAL THROUGH MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The digital revolution has embarked on the inception of multimodal discourse studies that
empower the viewers to extract synergistic meanings from a nexus of semiotic resources conjoint
in a media artefact. Multimodality embraces the concept of semiotic remediation, where the prior
or traditional text is repurposed into contemporary media formats such as film adaption from a
novel. Therefore, this qualitative study aims to explore the remediated text such as film for the
potential to generate multiplicative meanings owing to the ensembles and semiotic resources
through the SFL approach proposed by Kress and Van Leeuwen. This framework offers an
overarching and extensive analysis of the visual narrative where a multitude of semiotic devices
are incorporated to impart meanings spatiotemporally. Thus, the paper examines three important
scenes from the adaptation, of Pride and Prejudice by employing Multimodal Discourse Analysis
through representation, interaction and compositional metafunctions to analyze the ‘intersemiotic layering’ in generating the synergistic effect of the narrative. The findings suggest that
multimodal remediated text is multifaceted and enrich the interpretive possibilities through the
environment, kinesthetic movements of the characters and other semiotic resources.