Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of The Interpersonal Meaning In Children Picture Books

The picture book with its combination of illustrations and texts plays a paramount role in the development of children.The picture book is beneficial to children for its can not only stimulate the literary development of children but also guide them to cognize the world objectively and promote their emotional development.Based on visual grammar by Kress and Leeuwen(1996),image analysis theory proposed by Clare,Martin and Len(2013)and systemic-functional grammar,the thesis carries out an intersemiotic analysis of picture books and aims to explore the mechanism of interpersonal meaning construction in picture books.Four picture books,which are not only Caldecott winners but also in the list of Top100 picture books proposed by New York Public Library,have been chosen.The mixed method of quantitative and qualitative research is applied to examine the interpersonal meaning construction in the visual and the verbal modes of picture books.Firstly,focalization,social distance,pathos,attitude,ambience and graduation are analyzed to study the interpersonal meaning construction in the visual mode.Secondly,mood,modality and attitude system are elaborated to explore the interpersonal meaning construction in the verbal mode.In the end,the interaction between image and text is explicated based on the image-text relations proposed by Leeuwen(2005).The study reveals that the mechanism of interpersonal meaning construction accords with the creation intention of picture books.For one thing,the most applications of [observe unmediated] accounting for 71.4%,long shot,42.6% and oblique angle,73.9% in the visual mode and declarative mood structure taking 72.8% in the verbal mode indicate that picture books do not prefer direct interaction between the represented participants and the readers,which renders the readers to be detached from the RPs.Since the most important intention of picture books is to guide children objectively cognize the world,thus less interaction can maintain the objectivity of picture books.For another,another intention of picture books is to cultivate children's emotional development.Thus,in order to construct engagement between the represented participants and the readers,other linguistic devices have been employed to create affinity between the represented participants and readers,such as the utilization of[observe mediated],[contact unmediated],close shot,frontal angle,pathos,ambience and graduation in the visual mode and imperative and interrogative mood structure in the verbal mode.Specifically,in focalization,[observe mediated] taking 14.8% has been used to make the readers have vicarious feeling with the represented participants.[Contact unmediated] with 13.8% introduces the reader into the story world and is applied when the represented participants aspire to gain help from the reader.In attitude,frontal angle with 26.1% is applied to get the readers involved into the story world.In social distance,medium shot with 37.4% can embody a friendly and equal relationship between the represented participants and the readers.Medium shot encourages the reader to get involved into the story and to perceive the emotions of the represented participants,especially when the RPs come across something unexpectedly.In addition,the application of close shot with 20% constructs intimate relations between the represented participants and the readers and highlights the outcomes of represented participant's improper behaviors,which makes the readers emotionally engaged with the RPs.In pathos,minimalist style encourages the readers to be detached from the represented participants;generic style is injunctive in nature and aims to provoke empathy and naturalistic style focuses on individual to arouse children's identification.In graduation,upscaled quantification of mass/amount covers the most percentage of 48.7% for it centers on contrast and comparison between the represented participants and the readers,which can provide visual impacts for children.In ambience,[vibrant] decides the keynote of picture books,whether it is lighthearted or depressed.[Warmth] is applied to represented the emotional state of the represented participants.Moreover,in [warmth],compared with [warm] choice,[cool]choice with 53.1% is used to make the readers meditated and rational.In familiarity,compared with [removed],[familiar] with 55% is employed to make the children be familiar with the world.The study has not only broadened the research scope of multimodal discourse analysis but also provided a new perspective for the research of picture books.With regard to the implications of the thesis,the mechanism of the interpersonal meaning construction that the thesis has attained might help illustrators to create more eligible picture books.This study may inspire parents to employ the effective method to carry out parent-child reading.