The research group for multimodality (FoMu) has an overarching social semiotic approach to text studies, where one of the focus areas are multimodality.

Social semiotics

The team has an overall social semiotics approach to text studies. Social semiotics investigates man as a social being, and how we use different semiotic systems to create meaning in different social and cultural circumstances. Based on this, researches explores the different semiotic resources we have available, how they can be used to create meaningful social relationships in the world around us and how they can be interpreted in different contexts. SFL is a unified theory that studies the language of system and language used, and how language choice interacts with the context. Within the social semiotic framework, the research group have published several linguistic studies on the basis of systemic-functional linguistics (SFL).

Multimodality

One of the focus areas of this research is multimodality. One of the focus areas is investigating how more meaningful creative resources can interact and contfront each other, and the consequences multimodal meaning creation can have in various contexts. It is about interaction between different forms of expression such as images, music, sound, materiality, movement and more. Multimodal studies may for example be implemented within the educational field, to gain insight into how different semiotic modalities and resources can help learning. Multimodal approaches are very useful in the analysis of many types of texts, such as textbooks, picture books, newspaper articles, texts published in social media and so forth. In addition, researches examines multimodality in various art objects, among other monuments. Several of the scientists in the research group has published studies of multimodal texts, both internationally and nationally, and contributed as editors and writers in anthologies and textbooks in this area.

Network

The research group has a well-established network both national and internationally. Members of the group are active participants in the Nordic Association for SFL and social semiotics and meet for workshops and conferences each year. This association has published several works in which members of the group have contributed. In addition, the group works with nordic terminology for SFL and social semiotics, and the members of the research team have actively participated since 2004. The team also has close connection with the Foreningen for SFL i professionerne i København and Center for multimodal communication, CMC, Syddansk Universitet:  Research Profile CMC - SDU.

In addition, the research group has connections to ASFLA (Australian Systemic Functional Association). Several members have attended ASFLAs conferences and this has led to specific connections with scientists in Australia in both SFL and multimodality. A member of the research team have been an opponent on a doctorate at the University of Technology Sydney in 2016, and the internationally renowned scientist Professor Theo van Leeuwen has been a lecturer and supervisor in PhD courses at USN in 2015. Also nationally, the research group has connections to other groups working with SFL and social semiotics. Here, we would like to specifically mention the multimodality community at the University of Agder and SFL at the Department of Literature, area studies and european languages and Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oslo. In addition, the research group has links to the National Center for writing and writing research at NTNU and National Videncenter for Læsning at the University College Syd, Copenhagen when it comes SFL and multimodal text research in schools and kindergartens.

Ongoing PhD Project

  • Moskvil, M. E.: Second language communication in academia: an ethnographic interactional study of doctoral students’ second language use during lunch break conversations. Ongoing PhD-project within the PEDRES-program, University of South-Eastern Norway. (2022 – 2028 part time).

  • Undrum, Linda Victoria Moland: Critical literacy in a digital text society. A study of multimodal practices in social media and of how these could be included in a didactical context to help increase students’ critical competence. Ongoing PhD-project within the PEDRES-program, University of South-Eastern Norway. (2019 - 2024)

Some selected publications

Older publications
  • Maagerø, Eva og Guri Lorentzen Østbye (2016): What a girl! Fighting gentleness in the picture book world. An analysis of the Norwegian picture book What a Girl! by Gro Dahle and Svein Nyhus. I: Children’s Literature in Education. Heidelberg og New York: Springer Press
  • Veum, Aslaug: (2016): «Rom-tiggerne – De utskjelte» Ein multimodal analyse av korleis tilreisande rom blir framstilt i norske aviser: I: Askeland, N. og Aamotsbakken. B. (red.): Folk uten land? Å gi stemme og status til urfolk og nasjonale minoriteter. Portal Akademisk Forlag. s.  225-245.
  • Andersen, Thomas Hestbæk, Morten Boeriis, Eva Maagerø og Elise Seip Tønnessen (2015): Social Semiotics. Key Figures, New Directions. London: Routledge
  • Maagerø, Eva og Aslaug Veum (2015): Moving a king. A social semiotic analysis of Knut Steen’s sculpture of the Norwegian King Olav V, and its relocation. I: Multimodal Communication. 4 (2). Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/mc
  • Maagerø, Eva og Aslaug Veum (2015): Stor konge på liten logo. En analyse av meningspotensialet i Kong Olav-logoen i Skjerjehamn. I: Gunhild Kvåle, Eva Maagerø og Aslaug Veum (red.): Tekst, kontekst og multimodalitet i nyere sosialsemiotisk forskning. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget
  • Maagerø, Eva og Nahúm Torrez (2015): The Invisible Hunters. En multimodal analyse av en bildebok fra miskito-folket i Nicaragua. I: Stein Laugerud, Maria Elisabeth Moskvil og Eva Maagerø (red.): Flerkulturelle muligheter. Kristiansand: Portal forlag
  • Maagerø, Eva (2015): Om å lese på setningsnivået. I: Eva Maagerø og Elise Seip Tønnessen (red.): Å lese i alle fag. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget (revisjon, 1. utgave 2007).
  • Maagerø, Eva og Elise Seip Tønnessen (2014): Multimodal tekstkompetanse. Kristiansand: Portal Akademisk Forlag
  • Maagerø, Eva (2014): Grammatikk for de yngste. I: Alle tiders norskdidaktiker. Festskrift til Frøydis Hertzberg på 70-årsdagen. Oslo: Novus Forlag
  • Maagerø, Eva (2014): Harry’s Gameboy. A Study in Gaze. I: Mariavita Cambria, Cristina Arizzi and Giulia Magazzù (red.): Web Genres and Web Tools. With Contribution from The Living Knowledge Project. Multimodal Text Studies in English. Serie editor: Anthony Baldry. Italia: Ibis
  • Maagerø, Eva og Aslaug Veum (2013): Svend Foyn. Meaning potentials of monument and space. RASK. International journal of language and communication, Syddansk Universitet, Odense 
  • http://www.sdu.dk/en/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/Isk/Forskning/Forskningspublikationer/RASK/Issues/39/Maageroe+og+Veum
  • Siljan, Henriette 2015. Nominalisering i et tekst- og kontekstperspektiv.  I: Kvåle, Gunnhild, Maagerø, Eva & Veum, Aslaug. Kontekst, språk, multimodalitet. Nye sosialsemiotiske perspektiver. Oslo: Fagbokforlaget.
  • Siljan, Henriette 2011. Metaforisering, nominalisering og normering. En teoretisk studie av grammatisk metafor og to empiriske undersøkelser av språktrekket i læreboktekster. Ph.d.-avhandling v/Universitetet i Oslo Thorsnes, Tollef og Veum, Aslaug (2013): «Multimodale skapande praksisar. Forsøk på
  • artikulasjonar ut frå sosialsemiotikk og samtidas relasjonelle kunsthandverk». I: FORMakademisk, Vol 6, Nr 1 (2013), s. 1-21. https://doaj.org/article/25e85a6e0ac64261b377d4c2229064b2
  • Veum, Aslaug (2013): «Blogging på rosa skjerm. Om roller og relasjonar i ungjentebloggar». I: Hållsten, Stina, Rehnberg, Hanna Sofia & Wojahn, Daniel (red.): Sex nordiska studier i systemisk-funktionell lingvistik. Södertörns högskola, Stockholm: Elanders. s. 107-124. http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:655788/FULLTEXT01.pdf
  • Maagerø, Eva og Guri Lorentzen Østbye (2012): Do Worlds Have Corners? When Children’s Picture Books invite Philosophical Questions. I: Children’s literature in Education. Vol. 43 (1). Heidelberg og New York: Springer Press
  • Maagerø, Eva (2005): Språket som mening. Introduksjon til systemisk funksjonell lingvistikk for studenter og lærere. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget
  • Maagerø, Eva og Elise Seip Tønnessen (2001): Samtaler om tekst, språk og kultur. Michael A.K. Halliday, Ruqaiya Hasan, Wolfgang Iser, William Labov og Ragnar Rommetveit. LNU/Cappelen
  • Berge, Kjell Lars, Patrick Coppock og Eva Maagerø (1998): Å skape mening med språk. Oslo: LNU/ Cappelen

 

Group leaders

Members

PhD candidate