Multimodal semiotic and semantic analysis of advertising billboards: a pakistani perspective
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Date
2017
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Management and Technology Lahore
Abstract
Situating the current study in the paradigm of Visual Literacy, the researcher has employed method of qualitative descriptive research to make analysis of advertising billboards not only to explore the meaning of signs but also to find out in what manner differenttypes of semiotic resources with the combination of linguistic process convey specific meaning in a particular social setup. In addition the researcher’s intention is to discover hidden ideology of persuading and beguiling the target viewers in a particular social context with the combination of semantics and different types of semiotic resources. Before doing the analysis of advertising billboards, a detailed and meticulous literature review has been done of previous researches’ studies in order to validate not only the importance and significance of the topic but also highlighting and evaluating the current study from new and different perspective. The researcher has chosen three aspects i.e. ‘gaze’, ‘salience’, and ‘vector’ of multimodal social semiotic approach by Kress and Van Leeuwen(1990, 1996 and 2006) to explore the meaning of sign in visual composition of advertising billboards and Leech’s (1981) semantic theory; associative meaning to make analysis of Urdu slogans in the wake of manipulation of language to beguile the target viewers. In this connection the researcher has analyzed 25 advertising billboards, erected on different sites of Lahore city.After analysis it is evident that by combinations of these two approaches, the producers of the advertisements beguile the target audiences’ at large extent. Besides this the combination of different semiotic resources in right direction not only creates elements of social affinity and involvement for the viewers but also clutches the attention of the target audience. The producers communicate effectively by using different colours,3D effects, gestures, image, layout, typography and Urduslogans. Furthermore, the researcher discovers how ideology is being developed and this ideology is not only changing the living standards of the general public but also shaping the new ideas related to life styles of the public.
Description
Supervised By: Dr. Arshad Khan.
Keywords
Multimodal semiotic, Semantic analysis of advertising