Arguing Against Corporate Claims Visually and Multimodally: The Genre of Subvertisements

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the conditions under which the manipulation of the verbal and the visual elements or of the visual elements alone in the genre of subvertisements can be considered as an act of objecting or rebutting in an implicit argumentative discussion. We thus consider the cognitive and pragmatic aspects of communication while paying serious attention to the interaction of semiotic modes in order to analyse a number of images produced by anti-consumerist groups such as Adbusters. We identify four different ways in which image-text relations or the visuals alone can cue an incongruity between the message of the original ad and the message of the subvertisement in such a way that the latter functions as an objection or rebuttal of the claim advanced by the original advertisement.

Reconstructing Multimodal Arguments in Advertisements: Combining Pragmatics and Argumentation Theory

“…While the use of argumentation schemes leads to the retrieval of the implicit premises and conclusions of the arguments expressed, the reconstruction of the polyphonic articulation of the messages allows identifying the responsibilities that the entity responsible for the advertisement is taking on and the ones that it attributes to other discourse characters, including the "common opinion." The two aspects above make this approach potentially applicable to the analysis of predominantly or purely visual advertisements (Tseronis and Forceville 2017b). While this paper focused on the linguistic elements, it illustrates a method for retrieving the rhetorical structure and the implicit information that can be used also for interpreting messages that rely minimally on the verbal dimension.…”

Between Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and Instagram Narratives: Multimodal Argumentation in Arab Netizens’ Perlocutionary Acts Towards Captain America 4

“…These were particularly used since the netizens wanted to state their points of view and express their feelings towards the character in question. Tseronis and Forceville (2017a) discussed argumentation in subvertisements. The authors maintained that there is a vivid exploitation of the verbal and visual features, or the visual features solely, in the genre of subvertisements.…”

Determining the commitments of image-makers in arguments with multimodal allusions in the front covers of The Economist

“…According to Novitz, pictures, like sentences, can express propositions with the difference that in the case of sentences it is syntax and grammar that help 1 I assume that images commit their makers, if nothing else, in the sense that as a result of their production or use their makers or users may be required to justify themselves (in court or in public) or to take certain action against criticisms that can be raised (see, for example, Tseronis and Forceville (2017) for a discussion of how image and text can be manipulated in order to convey critical reactions in the genre of subvertisements). That is why I do not discuss whether commitments arise in communicative acts performed partly or exclusively non-verbally, but how to establish these commitments.…”