Book review: Tan S and Marissa KL.E (eds), Discourses, Modes, Media and Meaning in an Era of Pandemic: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Approach

Abstract

This book, edited by Sabine Tan and Marissa K. L. E, makes a significant contribution to the Routledge Studies in Multimodality series organized by Kay O’Halloran. The purpose of this edited volume is to investigate the different meanings that emerged from a mass of discourses, modes, and media during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book comprises 12 chapters, arranged in four main parts after an introductory chapter. Part I (Chapters 2–3) contributes to the use of semiotic modes in static multimodal media about the COVID-19 pandemic. Abdel-Raheem (Chapter 2) uses a large corpus of Arab political cartoons to examine the metaphorical process of transforming real-world events into pictorial acts. The author presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of frequent speech acts, with a special focus on the evaluative and performative qualities of metaphor. The procedural steps for identifying (verbo-)pictorial metaphors as well as nonverbal performatives are well explained. In the analysis of cartoons, the judging behavior can be interpreted as either positive or negative. In Chapter 3, E and Tan use a multimodal social semiotic approach to examine how Singaporeans are informed about the COVID-19 virus through the comic book medium. In addition to providing a broad overview of COVID-19-related communication practice, the chapter discusses the role of comics, pertaining to their advantages and disadvantages to communicate messages about public health. This chapter examines how five comics that reflect important themes from the COVID-19 Chronicles dataset have arranged semiotic components and used text and images in tandem in metafunctional ways. Part II (Chapters 4–5) focuses on the use of new media technologies in education and public health communication. Lim and Toh (Chapter 4) reflect on the various ways that three types of semiotic technologies, that is, video lectures, digital games, and social media, are employed to create meaning in online learning environments. The analysis follows the ‘designing learning’ considerations pertaining to knowledge representation, pedagogic interaction, and learning experience (Lim et al., 2021). By exploring the gains and losses in digital learning, the chapter highlights the significance of designing effective 1192794 DCM0010.1177/17504813231192794Discourse & CommunicationBook reviews book-review2023