Turning the Kaleidoscope of Ideas: Advancing Theories, Methods, and Applications in Multimodality

This Research Topic is dedicated to Hartmut Stöckl on the occasion of his 60th birthday. His contributions to semiotics and multimodality have been integral in shaping the current landscape of research in these fields.

As an increasing number of disciplines pass through ‘phases’ of exploring the inherent multimodality of their research objects (Bateman, 2022), multimodality scholars find themselves navigating a colorful array of theoretical proposals, methodological tools, and empirical research objects. While potentially daunting at times, the diversity of disciplines/approaches currently involved in multimodality holds remarkable potential for advancing the study of communicative practices across the past, present, and future (Stöckl, 2015). To unlock this potential, we must cultivate openness to diverse research configurations and work towards ways of integrating very different perspectives (Bateman, 2022).

Conscious efforts to integrate viewpoints and explore the synergies between research fields (e.g., multimodality, semiotics, text/media linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and rhetoric) have always been central to Hartmut Stöckl’s work (1997, 2004, 2015, 2016, 2019). By identifying and interlinking concepts across various research areas and establishing similarities and differences to create typologies, we can critically assess and improve our ability to conduct multimodality research. Such work shows that, to achieve true integration, we must occasionally turn the lens of the kaleidoscope and shift perspectives, reshuffling what we thought we knew to uncover new forms of systematicity.

Empirical application is crucial in advancing theory and methods in multimodality (Stöckl, 2015). While larger-scale corpus studies have been gaining momentum in the field (Pflaeging, Bateman, and Wildfeuer, 2021), we need to continue pursuing exploratory, smaller-scale projects (Bateman, 2022) to preserve the creativity and playfulness that are equally vital to scientific advancement. Hartmut’s work is firmly rooted in both traditions, with a clear focus on genre analysis, aspects of mode interaction, rhetoric and persuasion, and their applications to advertising and journalism discourse.

This Research Topic seeks to bring together various perspectives on ‘theory,’ ‘methods,’ and ‘application’ in multimodality. We invite submissions that foreground specific areas of interest, including, but not limited to:

• recent advancements in the theories, methods, and applications of multimodality
• contributions that seek to survey and synthesize existing approaches in multimodality and semiotics
• focused research areas, such as intersemiotic relations (e.g., language-image relations), rhetoric and persuasion, metaphor, or argumentation theory
• empirical studies engaging in multimodal text and genre analysis, addressing, e.g., advertising discourse and journalism.

References

Bateman, J. A. (2022) Multimodality, where next?—Some meta-methodological considerations. Multimodality & Society, 2(1), 41-63.

Pflaeging, J., Bateman, J. A., and Wildfeuer, J. (2021) Empirical multimodality research: The state of play. In: J. Pflaeging, J. Wildfeuer, and J. A. Bateman, eds. Empirical Multimodality Research: Methods, Evaluations, Implications. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 3-34.

Stöckl, H. (2019) Linguistic multimodality – multimodal linguistics. A state-of-the-art sketch. In: J. Wildfeuer, J. Pflaeging, J. A. Bateman, O. Seizov, and C.-I. Tseng, eds. Multimodality: Disciplinary Thoughts and the Challenge of Diversity. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 41-68.

Stöckl, H. (2016) Multimodalität: Semiotische und textlinguistische Grundlagen. In: N.-M. Klug and H. Stöckl, eds. Handbuch Sprache im multimodalen Kontext. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 3-35.

Stöckl, H. (2015) From text linguistics to multimodality: Mapping concepts and methods across domains. In: J. Wildfeuer, ed. Building Bridges for Multimodal Research: International Perspectives on Theories and Practices of Multimodal Analysis. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, pp. 51-75.

Stöckl, H. (2004) Die Sprache im Bild - Das Bild in der Sprache: Zur Verknüpfung von Sprache und Bild im massenmedialen Text. Konzepte, Theorien, Analysemethoden. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Stöckl, H. (1997) Werbung in Wort und Bild: Textstil und Semiotik englischsprachiger Anzeigenwerbung. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Information and Instructions for Authors

This Research Topic accepts any of the article types listed below, except for Data Report, Editorial, General Commentary, Policy Brief, Policy and Practice Review, Registered Report, and Study Protocol.

Authors interested in contributing to this Research Topic are encouraged to submit an extended abstract (referred to by Frontiers as a 'manuscript summary') by 16 January 2026. The maximum length is 1,000 words.

Authors who have not been formally invited to contribute to this Research Topic should contact communication@frontiersin.org for approval prior to submission.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: multimodality, semiotics, text/media linguistics, synthesis, rhetoric, advertising, metaphor, argumentation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.