Multimodality analysis in a dramatic work based on "Transpositional Grammar": A case study of an Iranian film called, Freedom

Document Type : .

Authors

1 PhD Student in Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The current research examines the multimodality of the film Freedom based on “Transpositional Grammar”. According to the framework proposed by Cope and Kalantzis (2020), meaning is presented through different forms. Accordingly, in each artwork, there are limited ways to present meaning. In the film, most of these forms are used, including image, text, sound, body, object, space, and speech. This research determines how to transfer the meanings presented in the film by collecting forms and examining the semantic function of each of them, including “reference”, “agency”, “structure”, “context”, and “interest”. According to this theory, the main meaning that is conveyed to the viewer in the film by various forms is “the presence and absence of freedom”. In this movie, the most used forms to convey meaning are “image” and “body”, followed by “speech” and “object”, and only in one case was “text”. Moreover, structure, reference, agency, and context are used for a specific purpose, i.e., conveying the meaning of “trapping” and then conveying the meaning of “freedom”.

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