Ausgabe 23/2016

Von Klaus Sachs-Hombach

Von Tim Ihde | The following article focuses on complex pointing structures in multimodal contexts in the German music video Die da!?! by Die Fantastischen Vier. De-parting from the two-field-theory of Karl Bühler and the concept of multimodality by Ellen Fricke, these structures are described. ›Pointing words‹ (deic-tics) and nonverbal pointing structures in combination change the qualities of their references. The potentials and problems of multimodal pointing complexes, which emerge through the interaction of the visual level, sounds, and editing, are different from these of their elements. This article describes how these complexes work and that they are more than just the sum of their parts.

By Heike Krebs | Taking Roman Jakobson’s functions of language as a starting point, this paper develops a multimodal application of Jakobson’s linguistic theory in order to describe the communicative functions of the trailer for the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962). The trailer as the main advertising instrument within film marketing seems especially apt for this aim, given both its modal complexity and clear functional purpose of selling the film. Yet, contrary to the assumption of the conative function being most central in a trailer, a closer analysis on the micro level of the different visual, auditory and filmic modes a trailer offers shows that the expressive and referential functions are more elaborate and, thus, predominant. Other functions, such as the phatic, poetic and metalingual/metamodal functions stay in the background, still being central in that they provide the viewer an aesthetic and exciting viewing event and therefore a possible reason for wanting to watch the advertised film itself.

By Michelle Herte | The concept of multimodality, originating from social semiotics, appears to be a very promising one for computer game research, as the relatively new medium employs many different modes on many different levels. This quality of computer games may even be a main reason for the difficulties of digital game studies to properly define their object, prominently exemplified by the notorious dispute between ludologists and narratologists. By now there is the consensus that the terms narrative and ludic do not define computer games as such, but rather describe two of many modes which coexist in most games and are generally of equal importance (cf. NEITZEL/NOHR 2010: 419), just as the modes of human communication are described as coexisting and equal by social semiotics (cf. KRESS 2010).

Von Franz Reitinger | Frei nach dem Motto, man ist, was man tut, sei mir erlaubt, mich vorzustellen: ich gehe in Bibliotheken, lese Bücher, suche Archive auf, sehe Akten ein, sitze am Computer, tippe unvollständige Sätze in sogenannte ›Dokumente‹ und korrespondiere. Wenn alles gut geht, wird daraus am Ende ein Buch. Man könnte an Bücher gewiss auch anders herangehen: denken Sie nur an Krimis, Reiseführer oder Kochbücher. Nun habe ich mich aber einer ganz speziellen Aufgabe verschrieben: der Erforschung von Bildern. In meinem nächsten Buch, so es ein nächstes geben wird, werde ich auf die Veräußerung eines heute verschollenen Porträtbestandes aus einem niederösterreichischen Landschloss zu sprechen kommen. Erstmals kann ich einige dieser Gemälde präsentieren und diese ihrem eigentlichen Herkunftsort zuordnen: einem Schloss in der Steiermark. Dass diese Bilder dort fehlen, ist bis heute niemandem aufgefallen. Damit wäre ich auch schon bei meinem Thema.

Von Hans-Ulrich Lessing

Von Rolf Sachsse

Von Nicola Mößner