6.10 Rebellion

Just in case we don't have time for in-depth discussion of this essay on Friday, here is a kind of summary of what I was thinking we could use it for.

While the essay presents an in-depth analysis of a particular multimodal text (and the social structures that surround that text), for our purposes what is most important is Burn's review of theory, and his practices for applying that theory in his analysis. 

The essay emphasizes the usefulness of approaches rooted in social semiotics (cultural studies orientations) and attention to multimodality.  The introduction presents 3particular approaches (153-54):

•  Kress & Van Leeuwen's approach which attends to "four strata" ( discourse, design, production, distribution => which Burn supplements with interpretation);
• using semiotic metafunctions (ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions) - articulated by K &VL presentational, orientational, and organizational;
• and focus on the analysis of modes (both in the sense of the text's design AT the interface = multimodal, and in the sense of the hypertextual nature of the text, with multiple levels/modes for designer control see 161-62).

Burn use these all three of these approaches to describe what is going on in the composing process/product in his study.  Reading his application of these tools for analyzing/describing/interpreting multimodal texts can provide us with questions to ask about the communities we are studying.

As I read, I found myself reflecting several of his discussions. In particular I was interested in:

• his discussion of ideology.  Both the notion that the "static structures of ideology" are less mobile and more deterministic than the competing discourses that compose it; and the idea that "one can only be on the receiving end of an ideology.  While I can enter into definitions of ideology that make this true, I am interested in deconstructing the idea of ideology, much the way "academic discourse" has been taken apart - since after all, if everyone conceives of a concept/belief set differently => what exactly is the unifying principle that puts us on the receiving end?  I realize this is not fully worked out and would like to talk about it.  How are we going define ideology?  What do we want to do with it?  Who should we read to develop a more informed discussion?
• the definition of discourse he invoked = "knowledge of (some aspect of) reality" => which seems to place this study outside social constructionism in ways that we should take not of.
• what it means for texts to be multimodal (mentioned above)
• how meanings emerge through "connotation" 163
• discussion of the usefulness of semiotic analysis 165

I thought the identification of discourses associated with his participant's identities (expert-gamer, horror, proto-critical, ludic, and proto-designer) was particularly interesting, and felt that might be a useful way to think about some of our communities.

If you have questions - or anything you want to touch on re this essay, maybe post it as a comment here or on your blog so we can have some time to think about your ideas before we meet.