Multimodality and argumentation in online travel reviews

Abstract

In this paper we reconstruct the hierarchy of discourse acts that reviewers build in multimodal online reviews for tourist attractions. We aim at showing (1) how reviewers employ different semiotic modes to fulfil the communicative action of tourist recommendation, and (2) the pragmatic function of photographs in the hierarchy of discourse acts. By adopting the framework of Congruity Theory (e.g., Rigotti, 2005; Rocci, 2005), we analyze a sample of positive and negative multimodal reviews of the Great Cathedral and Mosque in Cordoba (Spain) published by tourists on TripAdvisor. We show that the multimodal elements of the reviews fulfil different pragmatic functions within the overall communicative action of providing advice on the tourist site.