Linguistica 1 inglese, Appunti di Linguistica

Scarica Linguistica 1 inglese e più Appunti in PDF di Linguistica solo su Docsity! LEZIONE 1 esame competenze: 6 giugno (o settembre, gennaio) esame Francesconi: 29 giugno, 27 luglio, 22 settembre → 10 questions (questions and answers in English); 60’ es. What is meant by the tourist gaze? PROGRAM the tourist gaze critical genre analysis multimodal analysis static multimodal analysis hypertextual multimodal analysis audio-visual texts pandemic videos Aim: Acknowledge theoretical frameworks and methodological tools - critical genre analysis - text analysis - multimodal analysis - multimodal genre analysis Text is strictly linked with context Aim 2: Read and interpret text-internal features from a functional perspective and in light of text-external features, i.e. within a discursive context shaped by professional, social, cultural aspects. Tourism texts: during the course we will be discussing many contemporary, authentical, real instances, real tourism texts: → static text instances → dynamic text instances → digital text instances (ex. websites, institutional websites) → tangible items (souvenirs; they participate in the process) → experiential items Films and fictions are increasingly being involved into this promotion Many people travel in order to see the places in which a fiction was set (either fictions or films) → Italian fictions like Montalbano increased tourism in southern Italy → tourism visibility Travel bloggers: they can promote a destination Itineraries: ex. an urban itinerary: visiting a city through a collective movement (ex. by joining a tour with international travelers) We are interested in providing an inclusive and fluid definition of a tourism text inclusive means open: we want also to include visual and verbal the Baedeker: an iconic travel guide (the one with the red cover); the Bedecher is the symbol of the modern travel guide; published in 1836. It was a symbol of tourism at that time 1 Tourism texts and tourism as plural Texts change in time → we have a diachronic variation: but they also change for other reasons, such as: - historical - economic - cultural - social - medium- related - segment-related; → segmentation: speaking about tourism, we can also rely on tourism segments, ex. spa tourism, sport tourism: the target between those is completely different (ex. spa tourism is related to wellness, to a particular lifestyle, rhythm and so on) sport activities: really diverse in terms of financial activities (es. those who practice golf want to experience something luxurious) → even sport tourism is segmented segmentation within segmentation food activities/ cookery courses: - target (age, interests, lifestyle) ex. Heritage tourism: it is a tourism segment Harison said that heritage includes: - objects, places (both cultural and natural), practices - tangible and intangible experiences (=ex. enjoying tea time in London) UNESCO is increasingly celebrating and including intangible heritage 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding and Intangible Cultural Heritage ex. arte dei pizzaioli napoletani is about the art of making pizza, not about the product itself; there's a particular connection with the place in which is it produced (Napoli) Intangible heritage tourism discourse ❖ diverse yet hybrid tourism segments ❖ creative turn in cultural tourism ❖ shift towards less tangible tourism assets ❖ interest in popular cultural forms ❖ experiential content ❖ visibility of the performing arts Tourism is more and more specialized, specific, but in spite of that, we can see some trends. Incredible India → image: image in order to promote the practice of yoga → the idea is that you go there to practice, to experience (yoga in particular)= India as the place where you come practice 2 Visual communication ↓ Other sensorial experiences ↓ Performance turn The performance turn In this new light, the revised tourist gaze paradigm still offers fruitful insights into tourism textuality. - Performative gaze - Multi-sensuous experience (flavors, touches, smells, sounds, action) - Embodied gaze (sensations, affects) - Relational gaze (social, plural, dialogic) Vision as organizing sense Vision is co-present with other sensorial experiences as the organizing sense. It organizes the place, role and effect of other senses. (Urry & Larsen, 2010: 195) Incredible India international branding Campaign When we deal with tourism texts, we need to consider the context. Texts operate in a particular context, they are not aseptic. Entitled Incredible India, it was launched in 2002 by the Government of India for global tourism promotion: it is an institutional campaign; it is still operating organized into 2 stages: 1. focus on the destination, the sight, promoted and branded as exotic and wonderful → the tourist gaze upon india was shaped us exotic and wonderful: this idea of magic, of special 2. 10 year later: second phase: it moved the focus from the destination to the visitor, the traveler. They decide to use a female model (gender discourse being enacted?) Campaign is launched in a particular historical and political context: it is socially determined When it was launched, there were some particular reasons that motivated it: a crisis. The project was a sort of reaction to an economic, military and political crisis. Reasons identified by the indian government for the reaction (2001-2002 crisis): • Attack on the World Trade Centre • War in Afghanistan • Attack on Parliament House in Delhi • Troop mobilization at the Indian border • Travel advisories leading to withdrawal of schedules by airlines from India 5 According to the government, Indian tourism lacked a meaningful identity that is a cohesive and recognisable image. They also noticed the fact that India had a limited number of tourism offices abroad that could promote the image of India (until 2002 India had 18 tourism offices abroad) Semiotic limit: there was no cohesive, recognizable identity for India→ the image or identity of India, at a global level, was opaque, was not clear: → No preciseand common brand: “Spiritual India”, “Cultural India”, “Unbelievable India” They decided to organize and launch this campaign for the reasons stated before: a multiface context which encouraged the launch of the new campaign. A campaign, which means textual choices, responds to a context The outcome: The WTO (World Tourism Organization) reported a 22% increase in international tourism receipts in the first nine months of 2012 = there was a positive response to this campaign. It worked. Static texts visuals and verbal ex. slogans: alliterations and so on → they visually exploit the letter ex: Incredible !ndia (! in order to express euphoria) selections of images: we can see the: - the natural environment (= heritage) - the human environment - the cultural environment Audio texts (the one we listened to about India): - the imperative form created dynamism, activity, participation → the tourist gaze is not contemplation, admiration but emplays living, experiences enjoy, explore,... = imperative forms + an exclamatory phrase that gives a sense of euphoria rich, diverse, .. = they are given us a certain idea Here we have the invitation to visit, explore and enjoy India ancient temples = tangible heritage music, concert = intangible heritage wedding= an event → intangible heritage is also revealed through events (live, experience again) Audio visual texts 1. in terms of heritage (cultural-natural-humane): - cultural heritage: monuments which are iconic, sport (ex. cricket, the national sport there), typical costumes, clothes as a sort of embodied heritage), the masks - natural heritage: water in different forms (it symbolizes the purifying power of the tourism experience), - human heritage: both locals and visitors interacting, experiencing India together 2. shift from destination to experience: we are presented with visitors experiencing India → the celebration of the vcharm of India is still there, but this is not the point → the celebration has only the aim to invite us visiting India. 6 Image: a host-guest relation at the market LEZIONE 2 Literature review Tourism studies and tourism discourse 1. Tourism studies Tourism studies as a field (economic, legal, geographical historical, ethnographic concepts) It is - interdisciplinary discourse - complex = it is a net - fluid, dynamic = it keeps changing because of deeper reasons (political, economic and so on) Tourism is SEGMENTED: we have multiple segments, we don’t have a unicum tourism experience (ex. eco-tourism, …) 2. The language of tourism - sociolinguistics - discourse analysis 3. Tourism discourse in Italy - stereotyping - methodology - digital communication (mainly online) 1. THE BIRTH OF TOURISM STUDIES in the 60s and 70s of the last decade The first critical works developed in: anthropology, sociology and ethnology (the fields in which critical discourse originated) → it is an interdisciplinary discourse The pioneer work: a work by Dean MacCannel; the first edition: 1976; the title is “The Tourist” the concept of authenticity: according to him, all tourists travel in order to find authenticity, in terms of internal research experience, in terms of “they want to eat the authentic food/ they want to visit the genuine, real, pure Scotland” for ex. Tourism as search for authenticity The problem is that the tourism industry sells authenticity: when authenticity is sold as a tourist product, it lacks its authenticity and it becomes inauthentic. McCannel writes about “staged authenticity”: when authenticity is promoted it is transformed into a fake authenticity. ex. food: always promoted as genuine, traditional, local (tipico): in reality, it has been adapted, updated and so contaminated (not authentical anymore) The tourist gaze as pre-codified form of perception (sociology) Concept first coined by Jonatahn Urry in 1990 but then revised. The tourist sight-seeing is never spontaneous, it is the result of mediation, manipulation; it is a filter, a lens which has been pre-codified. Tourism: also something internal that has an impact on our interiority, our mind and our emotions. 7 fluid: the definition of genre has been discussed and changed across the centuries, in time We keep redefining genre. Genre is open as a concept, it is not frozen. Famous frameworks Aristotele (classical philosophy): the first philosopher who coined the term genre; different genres can be related to different contexts; ex: epideictic genres were not only interested in celebration, but also in blaming something. Tourism discourse: based on the celebration of a destination Among the tourism genres we may have some denigratory examples (epideictic genre) → ex. Tripadvisor Moving among classic philosophy, literary criticism: Dante Alighieri → he shaped and discussed genres; he defined tragedy, comedy and elegy as the 3 main genres in literature These 3 genres were distinguished in form and function = Different ages can shape and frame different frameworks, but also different domains, different fields.. Jamaica In order to critically examine and effectively use pervasive tourism texts,instantiated into generic configurations,students/professionals/tourists/locals need to develop genre awareness and competence. we have a travel guide to Jamaica Genre is conceptualized and genre instances are addressed in terms of generic integrity, …… SLIDE → genre integrity means that a genre (ex. a travel guide) has a stable, conventionalized and standardized configuration. This guide doesn’t change every time we produce a guide. It has recognizable structure (ex. a cover, a content, itineraries, recommandations, different sections based on food, accomodations and so on). stylistic idea linguistic: the use of many imperative forms Structure, style and language make a genre a genre. Travel magazine: also here it is written, it relies on images and it speaks about travels. The different relais on homogeneity, the function. The travel magazine is shorter Website: is digital (it lacks the printed component) We find tourism texts everywhere; we see them in their genre forms awareness: we know that we are familiar with different tourism texts. ex. the standard souvenir: it shows integrity humor souvenirs: they adopt creative strategies in order to make it more attention grabbing ecc The leaflet (volantino): the caption frames a unique image of a certain city/destination catalogs: the example promotes trips to Italy, adopting euphoric and celebratory language According to Bhatia, genre refers to language use: we are interested in language use Genre refers to language usein a conventionalised communicative setting in order to give expression to a specific set of communicative goals of a disciplinary or social institution, which give rise to stable structural forms by imposing constraints on the use of lexicogrammatical as well as discoursal resources. 10 Genre relies on a certain degree of stability + conventionalized patterns A travel guide: for use it is a travel guide because it aims at informing and promoting, not because it has a particular structure → genre in its communication function Genre Analysis GA (early eighties in the UK, related to the teaching and learning of ESP) Critical Genre Analysis → CGA (present day) used genre in order to teach a language (= initial focus of genre analysis). Later on it changed and moved to critical genre analysis: more attention in context was included. CGA (critical genre analysis) → Aim and Bathia Focus ● aimed to demystify interdiscursive performance in specific academic and professional settings (political discourse) ● attention to discourse and practice ● beyond linguistic and rhetorical analysis to the analysis of contextualization ● focuses on how discursive actions are madepossible and pragmatically successful, the way professionals reach their goals; Key points - Tourism discourse involves tourism communities; it pursues a set of communication goals, which are generally stratified, flexible, dynamic A tourism text is both Informative and promotional Identified by both text-external and text -internal features: → text-internal features comprehend textual, intertextual and co-textual elements → text-external features imply discursive practices and procedures, as well as disciplinary culture. Text- internal aspects ● a lexico-grammar level, focused on specific and recurring linguisticfeatures; ● a textual level, concerned with the genre-specific use of linguistic features; ● a structural level, aimed at the identification of a set of rhetorical moves. NB: MOVE: a textual segment fulfilling a specific function Text-external features Imply discursive practice and producers, as well as disciplinary culture. The discursive practice of sightseeing: Tourists travel in order to practice sightseeing image: two human being who are watching : there is someone performing an action, gazing upon something (and something being gazed upon) Urban context; they have a filter, a mediation: sightseeing practice is mediated, in this case by the guide: the guide as mediation, as a filter, as a lens through which the couple performs. In tourism the sightseeing/ the tourist gaze is mediated. Identify the moves (we find them into the text-internal aspects) move: it is a section, a portion of text that fulfills a communication function; ex. “Itineraries”: title “Classic routes”: subtitle 11 Then: 2 paragraphs → one operating as a framing, as an introduction, whereas the second one offers the itinerary. reference to sightseeing in the introduction: chill out at a view-blessed cafe references to sightseeing in the itinerary part → the use of imperative forms, which is instructive: it tells you that the itinerary employees moving: they tell you not just where to go, but also when and so ons → it is pre systematized, pre codified The itinerary is the regulation of movement → the presence of adjectives: the most important linguistic patterns in linguistic discourse, because it is connotative: narrow streets, exquisite, glorious, … = Celebratory adjectives, laudatory language → the language of euphoria Map with place names in bold: they are located in a map → it is an intra textual device which allows you to read the itinerary and to easily spot it in the map = physical positioning Generic integrity A property of stability; Generic integrity indicates the stable, conventionalised andstandardised structural, stylistic and linguistic configuration of text genres. It allows us to analyze individual texts and identify groups of texts with similar properties. Accordingly, we can catalog tourism text genres using Calvi’s framework. image: tea → it reminds us of the english tea : we attach to an image the category of the English breakfast Framework offered by Maria Calvi Calvi’s multifunctional and multidimensional framework for the analysis of written tourism texts 1. Genre families It is a group/ family of genres. Texts that belong to a genre family share the same socio-professional context with a similar communication purpose, such as: - editorial (travel guides, magazines) - institutional (official brochures, websites) - commercial (hotel brochures, travel agent websites), - organizational (tickets, invoices), - legal (regulations, norms), - scientific and academic (critical volumes, essays), - informal (travel blogs, travel chats / advices) The topic is always tourism discourse but they differ. An important genre family: the informal genre family, produced by travelers (not codified) → word of mouth (= passaparola): an oral piece of advice offered informally. To what genre family does the travel guide belong? 12 On the left: the cover on the right: the back cover Text-external features: we should be interested in : - who the author is - the target - the aim of the text: destination.-image formation: cognition (the destination a person is developing in his or her mind); destination choice performance: action → a shift from cognition to action - core values: heritage, hospitality, diversity - distribution: freely accessible in public states Image about the Maltese islands brochure: simple in structure (cover, sections, back cover) it is a multimodal text: mainly visual → here images and written text make meaning together low granularity: it doesn’t have many moves (not fragmented) Not only is the texts mainly visual, but images are huge verbal language: accessible/simple, laudatory/celebratory, formulaic and dialogic (interpersonal, reach in pronouns). Image about Gozo: the image is even huge then before, but the structure is always the same Accessible:easy and understandable; we never find complex language in the language of tourism; it is not challenging: 15 markers of laudatory language: authentic, impressive, truly unique formulaic: recognizable ex: in brochures, waters are always ‘crystal-clear’, mountains absolutely ‘majestic’ and the local population definitely ‘warm and welcoming’). The syntagm is fixed= fixed clasters, fixed formulas. Accessible The Maltese islands: truly Mediterranean Blessed with a mild climate and set in crystal waters, Malta and its sister islands of Gozo and Comino offer you a memorable experience, where moments of complete relaxation can be combined with the exploration of the islands’ many cultural, artistic and national treasures. Laudatory Long considered a microcosm of the Mediterranean and a favorite with travelers who seek an authentic island experience, our islands offer an impressive range of historical and cultural sites, together with a spectrum of activities, making Malta a truly unique year round holiday destination. Formulaic Malta has managed to strike the right balance between traditional hospitality and a cosmopolitan spirit born out of its millennial history of welcoming people from all around the region and beyond. Moreover, Malta has developed into a highly sought after location for international movie productions, while Valletta’s majestic Grand harbor welcomes cruise liner passengers from all over the world. Dialogic The Maltese islands are just a few hours away from major European airports, and with the many scheduled, low-cost and charter flights linking Malta to a host of European and other Mediterranean countries, not to mention the excellent sea connection to Europe, getting here could not be easier! They target you - Functions of “you” 1. ‘Ego-targeting’ strategy, aimed to directly address the reader and to single him / her out from the crowd. making him/her feel distinct from the undifferentiated mass of tourists [Dann, 1996] → The tourism text addresses you – they want to make you feel special. 2. Used to frame interpersonal closeness and intimacy in tourism texts [Fodde and Denti, 2008] = social relationship between ‘ego-targeting’ and the ‘you’ The text tries to establish a social relationship 3. Reassuring psychological function, helps readers to cope with the anxiety of facing the unknown, distant, intangible destination [Santulli, 2007] → we are reassure because tourism discourse eèlies visiting what is distant, unknown and unfamiliar (the tourism text establishes a comfort zone) This personalizes targeting strategy allows to establish a presumed familiarity and operates at a reassuring level LEZIONE 4 (CRITICAL GENRE ANALYSIS) The notion of Genre integrity: stability; it is the traditional, stable, fixed, formulaic configuration of a genre form → brochure: the most stable, standardized, traditional tourism text. ex. the presence of fireworks: they shape a sense of magic and so on extraordinary: unique, different → a notion very present into brochures Within the text, the brochure in mainly visual; the semiotic system regards the size of the picture; warm light for ex: it shapes a warm welcome, an invitation. + The target is directly addressed by a you pronoun → personalization 16 Other target strategies: Is the reader of a travel text called a tourist? NO The term tourist is always referred to something else Generally the tourist is named traveler, explorer, visitor and so on, or: colonna a destra. the notion of segmentation: also target naming strategies based on subgenres Author (re)positioning Addressee positioning implies a redefinition of sender status. Traditionally: ‘authorship anonymity’ and ‘lack of text sender identification.’ (Dann, 1996) Instead, the narrative voice of the Malta brochure is not textually hidden like an invisible business-like entity, but verbally personalized through the ‘we’ pronoun. (Mocini, 2009) ex. We really recommend you.. Concordance lines for the personal pronoun “we” and possessive adjective “our”: → The personal pronoun is extensively used in order to frame the addressee/ target, but also the sender → interaction between you and we. The use and function of the imperative mood An ‘interpersonal option in the system of mood’, the imperative indicates ‘a pretended already existing relationship of friendship or of familiarity’ between the author and the readership. ex: “Meet the Maltese!” → notion of hospitality + the exclamation mark: imperative form → it shapes a recommendation, a suggestion, not an obligation, but an invitation + friendship and familiarity. Imperative form being framed for this reason. 17 Is this world of mouth or is it an official text? BOTH → they are integrated; this is the Website of the australian tourism board, which is official, but it also welcomes real stories to be uploaded. This is a very frequent technique: another website: Destination Vancouver We see a huge image (images in tourism discourse are becoming bigger) → the website also here leaves space for authentic, spontaneous stories to be written/uploaded. innovation not regarding only medium; also: - change in relation dynamics in part regarding power - change in the number of actors and speakers Another line of innovation: the movement between: Business to Consumer (B2C) ⇒ Consumer to Consumer (C2C) ⇒ H2H The horizontal communication = communication between people at the same level (ex: TripAdvisor guests recommending a place / restaurant at other guests → someone at our level) = no stakeholders There is a communication being exchange among people who are at the same level, with the same power (= C2C communication) What is exchanged in C2C communication it is a HUMAN story: In these stories we can see the sharing of emotional experience: the emotional component is increasingly being adopted/embedded → not only narrative stories (what I have done, what I have eat, etc) SO: power relations among actors in tourism communication: vertical/ horizontal tenor But we should also be aware of the fact that the number of agents is increasingly growing: we now have many voices → thanks to the digital medium, platforms and so on, communication embraces different people. Monologue ⇒ dialogue ⇒ trialogue ⇒ polylogue Innovation in the number of speakers and actors: the number of speakers is increasingly growing; It started by being monologic: there was only the voice of the stakeholder / the official tourism board now: everyone is using his/her own style and voice= polylogue polylogic space of discussion: anyone can write his / her own story In these official websites (ex. the one of Vancouver), it opens the platforms to multiple voices: it becomes a polylogic space of discussion. Web 1.0 ⇒ Web 2.0 ⇒ Web 3.0 Even the digital environment is not stable The environment is still digital, but at at 1.0 it was frozen; Web 2.0: the participatory Web → a stage of which tourism communication has undergone a revolutionary experience (Facebook, Instagram and others) Web 3.0: we also have the apps → we can create our own downloads and so on → digital medium in completely different forms, for completely different usages and occasions Communication purpose Expert manipulation of generic resources in tourism texts allows to compete with similar text instances (grabs and holds the attention, entertains, increases accessibility, visibility, memorability), as well as to convey a positive and unique destination image. 20 → we should be aware of the fact that we are in a market: we should create sth. new in order to compete Interdiscursivity (How?) Bathia: we don’t have a text genre being implied; genre innovation in tourism discourse doesn't mean that we need to invente, but to combine, integrate and create hybrid forms as a formal innovation. → Hybridisation is the main factor that innovates genres. ⇒ genre innovation in tourism discourse means combine and integrate the various elements According to Bathia, we have 3 forms of innovation: - embedding - micing - bending Embedding (=incastrato) = a genre is used ‘as a template to give expression to another conventionally distinct generic forms’ → videos are embedded using a template and embedding a new text; not inventing: what is new is the embedding ex: a postcard with comics Mixing The 2 genres involved in the process are no longer distinguishable (Bhatia) like in the cases of ‘docufiction’ and ‘advertorial’ → they are being mixed Ex. The advertorial displays a number of textinternal indicators of advertising genres of visual, verbal nature like colorful and attractive pictures, logos, sub-headings, and systematic nominalisation. Similarly, content is expressed through a poetic style, avoiding negative elements and only including positive descriptions ex: infomercials = information + commercial; essaymercial = essay + commercial Bending = adaptation: genre bending indicates a process of adaptation of an existing genre, giving rise to a new genre with a different communicative purpose —> a printing page adopting some strategies ex. to insert a link within the page TO SUM UP: tourism texts show a tension between integrity and innovation. Genre instances constantly experience innovations (both of spontaneous and induced nature). LEZIONE 5 21 MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS Today: the visual mode Introduction: the presentation of multimodal analysis and some key notions Traditional view Centrality and hegemony of writing over other functionally subordinate semiotic modes. The Baedeker guide: invented by Baedeker in 1836 in Germany; we can recognize it by its unmistakable, iconic red cover. Image: a page taken from that important document; it was mainly verbal: writing is the main, the central predominant instrument, tool of communication. Also in this traditional text, writing is definitely the most important system. Multimodal reorientation Over the decades, we had some sort of multimodal reorientation: Kress: <we are experiencing multimodal reporientatio: language has to be seen in a new light, no longer as central and dominant (the traditional view), fully capable of expressing all meanings, but as one means among others for making meaning> = meaning making. image: “Live in Trento - the most exciting Erasmus experience” caption: catchy → “Reach for the top” The picture was taken from Sardagna (from where you can enjoy a panoramic view) → they have expressed the same concept of “top university” through the visual perception of being on top of the city. The presence, the role and the value of human being within tourist pictures We have INTERMODALITY: multimodality relies on the co-deployment of many modes intermodality: these modes are interrelated Interrelated semiotic systems Halliday: [T]here are many other modes of meaning, in any culture, which are outside the realm of language. Indeed we can define a culture as a set of semiotic systems, as a set of systems of meaning all of which interrelate. set: as system, network inter relation: we don’t have an accumulation of modes, they are instead in a network image: a Tripadvisor page Tripadvisor: a genre based of evaluation → we rate ex. a restaurant using a rating system (ex. a star-based rating) Tripadvisor uses balls → iconic/visual system then: verbal system: there are words written down but then also pictures Tripadvisor: a perfect combination and interrelation of visual, verbal and iconic system of meanings 22 Static multimodality Static multimodal textuality expresses and reflects the complex reality and gives tangibility to the intangible destination. ex. images from the Incredible India campaign: combination of verbal and visual → it gives an impression of tangibility about India (to the intangible destination) Dynamic multimodality Dynamic multimodal textuality configures transitory and fluid reality + gives the viewer and impression of visiting and exploring the (absent and distant) destination. ex. a video: we have dynamism; it doesn’t give an impression of reality, but of EXPLORING reality instead. image of a train: dynamic fruition of a landscape THE VISUAL MODE- Tourism as picture-taking Sontag: ‘It seems positively unnatural to travel for pleasure without taking a camera along.’ → tourism = taking pictures ‘Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs’. What changes in the kind of pictures? They have become more immediate, more accessible, more personal (selfies). The illusion of reality According to Sontag, a picture gives an illusion of reality. ex. photoshop: a tool whereby we can make a visual text a fake, a lie → we manipulate it. image of a painting: title “this is not a pipe” → we have a visual representation: new existence It means that this pipe is the outcome of a process of representation, which is a process of change, of recreation → a new presentia is given to the pipe. In this case: artistic, visual . Photography Tourist photography represents reality → how is it possible? The construction of reality via: - framing: selection and omission (ex. you omit rainy days, pollution, traffic, and so on) → framing implies firstly selection and secondly omission - composition → what is where (the order): on the left, on the right, on top and so on - specific viewpoint - technical manipulation of light and color (ex. a vibrant red color → the result of adjustment) - manipulation of distance (ex. zoom) We SHAPE pictures; we represent them Tourist pictures as strategies of control Sontag: The camera enables tourists to capture, mark, fix and take control of the flowing time and of the ‘exotic’ space. It is not by chance that photography was invented during a tourist experience. You fix space and stop time A powerful medium of reality modification, the camera has been described as performing and aggression, appropriation, control and even negation of the object. We moved from the printed to the digital environment, we have an infinite potential in terms of accessibility, storage, manipulation, uploads, downloads and transmission (ex. making a picture available of the instagram page means perpetuating the tourist gaze of a certain place). 25 The four-strata model of communication - discourse (socially constructed knowledge of some aspect of the world) - design (choice of mode, as semiotic resources for realizing discourse and interaction) - production (choice of medium, intended for its material support) - distribution (related to the communication with the audience) Strategies for the tourist pictures 1. The Ideational Metafunction → interactive participants: real image-producer and image-viewer → represented participants: people, places and things (concrete or abstract) depicted in an image something going on: narrative (ex. image: someone practicing sport, doing something; the young man is smiling, gazing at the person taking the picture) → ACTION = participants are connected by means of a vector and are involved in any kind of event, action, process of change and transitory spatial arrangements. or something conceptual: image of something existing → EXISTENCE =participants are represented in their ‘more or less stable and timeless essence’. Omission: the tourist gaze filters, selects Poverty, waste and death are usually obliterated by the tourist gaze, in favor of exotic, tropical, unspoilt sites. The analysis of human beings HUMAN BEING AS PARTICIPANTS We may pay attention to: - presence/ absence : we may or may not have human beings (in conceptual images it is rare to have human pictures) → the meaning making of this strategy is that the viewer is invited to go there, to occupy, explore and visit that space. They seem to be waiting to be explored, visited. No human subject → invitation (ex. images of either natural/artificial places that seem to be waiting to be visited) If we do have human beings instead: WHICH human beings are represented? Are they guests or hosts? (host VS guest representation) → Stereotyped guests are mainly depicted (ex. the mulino bianco family) Presenting hosts instead: authentic people → authenticity (in an authentic setting too) Very often, hosts are depicted as busy in doing some local/indigenous activities (always appreciated by visitors) → hosts working for tourists, at the serve for guests. guests instead: generally enjoying, consuming, having fun (eating, drinking), even exploiting ex. natural resources → identification - role : are they guests or hosts (in case we have) - interaction : if they are co-present, how do they interact? Image (incredible India campaign): Hosts + guests as RP: CO PRESENCE OF HOSTS AND GUESTS Something are depicted together but if they do interact, they play distinct roles of servant/ guide/ interpreter /facilitator/ waiter/ bus- driver vs master /to-be satisfied-visitor. 26 LEZIONE 6 (MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS) Yesterday: the concept of mode (video about Kress, the one who codified the notion of ‘mode’) 2. The Interpersonal Metafunction The most important one because of the tourist gaze. It is concerned with establishing interpersonal dynamics among participants (concerned with RELATIONS) → we have: the gazer and the gazee The interaction among elements takes place on four different levels: ● contact ● size of frame ● social distance ● perspective ● modality Predominantly, light performs an interpersonal metafunction An important strategy regards - CONTACT: ex. What about eye contact? Fundamental in a conversation; In case we do have eye contact, we have a functional demand: contact is established through the participant’s direct gaze at the viewer, who is invited to interact with the participant if we don’t have it, we have offer: no contact is made; SLIDE Image: local people; one of them is looking at us (as gazers): A GAZE IS BEING ENACTED→ she seems like she is inviting us to be part of that moment, to enter the scene. - SIZE OF FRAME (=inquadratura) Defined in relation to specific sections of the human body: 1. close-ups: only head and shoulders; 2. medium shots: the subject is cut off at the knees; 3. long shots: fully represented human figure image there: example of a medium shot Formal aspect: how much do we see of a human body/a monument? The meaning making is social distance Social distance Depending on the kind of the selected shot, different social relations can be distinguished: - intimate social relations: When we have for ex. a close up, we feel close to the person represented in that close up: close ups create, shape an intimate tourist gaze. - impersonal social relation: we don’t feel any relation with the depicted object; it is far from the viewer (not just a formal distance, but also an emotional one) - PERSPECTIVE → connected to the point of view: a physical position The tourist gaze is interested in the position from where we observe: - subjective perspective: we have a unique, visible, clear perspective: the viewer can look only from a specific point of view. 27 DEPTH: a criterion related to maximally deep perspective to its absence. Fontground, midground, background images which rely on depth: we are sort of invited to enter (the image is not flat) ; The parameter of color changes: the first relies on color saturation (sport: vibrant), the second on color modulation (a more intimate moment is being depicted: contemplation). → illumination: represented participants can be depicted according to a specific source of illumination or not → brightness: a scale which runs from many different degrees of brightness to 2 degrees 3. The textual metafunction About what makes a text cohesive and coherent The way through which the elements in a picture are related to each other in order to create a meaningful whole. The compositional nature of images is characterized by 3 interrelated systems: ● information value ● salience ● framing - INFORMATIONAL VALUE a. = meaningful location of elements in a picture (the layout): → on the left side: already given information → on the right side: a new message → on the top: the most salient and/or ….. → on the bottom: more specific and practical information - Information value b. Visual composition may also be structured along the dimensions of center and margin: → center: the most crucial part of the image → margin: margin elements are subordinated to the centrale one(s) - SALIENCE = it means importance, visibility Elements are made in order to attract the viewer’s attention in different ways → an image achieves salience through: → size → sharpness of focus → tonal and color contrasts → placement → perspective → presence of human figures or cultural symbols - FRAMING The presence or absence of specific devices which connect or disconnect the elements of an image. Elements in a picture can either be: → connected through vectors, abstract graphic elements and repetition of colors; → disconnected because of lines, empty spaces and so forth Conclusions Tourist pictures are relevant, significant markers; they fulfill ideational, interpersonal and textual functions → we need to develop critical visual awareness in order to understand their ideological potential (we become more analytic and sophisticated in our analysis). 30 Proper tools need to be mastered. LEZIONE 7 VISUAL- VERBAL INTERFACE FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF INTERSEMIOSIS Intersemiosis: the interaction of different modes image: Highland Spring → a Campaign the Tube in London (2003): claustrophobic environment: you could see this slogan + they distributed there bottles of mineral water = the context so: July, hot temperatures, the London underground and then you read this poster: a poster promoting Scotland, a tourist destination it is both verbal and visual combined 1. visual : the tourist gaze starts from the visual forms of perception (the organizing system) → we check what we see: a natural landscape; we have water, which is the most important symbol in tourism discourse which stands for purity and purification → idea that water can purify both exteriority and interiority. Holiday: if you can purify your body, your holiday becomes holy = context which refers to a regenerating experience They also promote the Scottish mineral water → colors are modulate, the image is harmonious the slogan: What life takes out, Scotland puts back. → the idea of purification is framed through an accessible language + idea that Scotland can regenerate you. → white color for the caption which evoques the water. CONTENTS: - Van Leeuwen’s framework: Segregation Separation Integration Overlap Rhyming Contrast - Barthes’ framework : Relay Elaboration 1. Leeuwens See how the verbal and the visual can co-occur on the page simultaneously 31 The parameters are: ● SEGREGATION = distance, distinction, disconnection → extreme separation Two segregated semiotic spaces and designated orders Cover: we have an image and a title; the 2 systems are distinct: we don’t have any connection ● SEPARATION = the verbal and the visual are disconnected → less nuanced than segregation; we have an empty space between the visual and the verbal; we have both a professional travel writer and a professional photographer → those professions are autonomous, with their own autonomy. The 2 arts are separate Image: Incredible India → it provides an example of separation because the caption, the verbal mode is separated ● INTEGRATION → the most extended strategy in visual-verbal tourism promotional texts = one semiotic system (the verbal one) is integrated, absorbed, superimposed into another → the effect is that the verbal is PART OF the image; we don’t perceive distinct modes, but the verbal as part of the visual We always need to start from the visual, because i tourism discourse it is the organizing one 32 = similarity between systems (many times via color) image about Gozo: rhyming here is not formally but conceptually expressed; the keyword magic fixes the values projected by the image(s) the image occupying the upper section is expressing the dream, the enchanted dimension of the Calypso’s Isle The verbal and the visual are congruent: they say/ express the same thing ● CONTRAST = difference (valid for semiotic contrast in humor); it is rare though 1. The postcard on the left: the visual: we have a Scottish landscape, a lake and mountains: a formulaic, typical Scottish landscape; then: a queue of cars the caption: Getting away from it all in the highlands of Scotland → from a formal viewpoint, the caption is separated and in contrast:’ getting away from it all’ → difficult to do there (we are shown a queue) = The visual shows a crowded Scottish landscape whereas the verbal celebrates the fact that the scottish islands are unspoilt, tranquil and serene = funny 2. second image: taken from the Divine Tuscany Campaign the visual: rural landscape; it reminds us of freedom, peace, purity and purification but the caption says: Lascitae ogni speranza o voi che entrate (the beginning of the divine Comedy which opened the entrance to Hell) = it creates some sort of tension → here we don’t have any idea of Hell 35 → they work on contrast/ dissonance between the verbal and the visual: that line taken from the Divine Comedy is reversed: we have humor which captures our attention, it creates meaning. Your turn 1. of a shirt about London; inside of that we find the caption →presence of rhyming due to colors: the caption (= verbal part) shares the same colors as the visual part (= the t-shirt) 2. official logo of Malta Gozo Comino the visual: the upper part of the logo; it integrates two items: a cross, a symbol of Malta which carries a relationship with Europe + the eye of an egyptian goddess (it celebrates a different kind of heritage) → an inclusive approach to the multicultural heritage and tradition in Malta. then the logo → rhyming of colors (=the blue color achieves an effect of cohesion); so: we definitely have separation, but the rhyming achieves cohesion. Example Campaign designed to promote Tuscany; it was launched for the BIT: Borsa Internazionale del Turismo (a huge event); it enabled the region to reach national visibility. ⇓ The images presented were defined by the president as a fake Tuscany: Toscana Taroccata → they rely on photoshop in order to achieve the idea of magic → The president of the region Rossi rejected them because they didn’t give an idea of the authenticity Among experts this campaign was appreciated as brilliant, innovative; the politicians instead (ex. assessori del turismo) rejected it. 2. Barthes 36 ● RELAY = the visual does something and the verbal does something else → they are complementary = both are necessary in order to make meaning → complementary relationship between words and images; the verbal text can ‘extend’ the visual text, adding new and different meanings. ● ELABORATION - elaboration: illustration = one can stay there alone, whereas the other one is subordinate and is NOT semantically necessary; they are not equal - elaboration anchorage: the words “Dolce Vita” are not necessary there; parola che fissa un concetto visivo Expansion= target position in destination ads (=annunci) Another Campaign: the Made in Italy Campaign (context: the Expo) relationship between the verbal and the visual: we have italian images + we have the “Made in Italy” label in each image which metaphorically also evoques the italian fashion too. Conclusions → tourism texts make meaning at the intermodal level, whereby different modes integrate= we can separate modesa at the beginning but in order to see how they make meaning/ sense we need to check their integration. → Intersemiotic analysis should overcome an additive view and adopt an integrative perspective → Attention should be given to forms (e.g. integration, overlap) and functions (e.g. relay, illustration) of intersemiotic patterns → Multiplied meaning potential of intersemiosis works at the emotional and cognitive levels. 37 soundtrack: interaction of flute, Indian drums and bells (ground position) The soundscape is dynamic, it changes→ what changes here is: first part: mutual interaction of voice and music; they are consistently combined second part: more contrastive relation between the two third one: sounds become harmonious again → other sounds are engaged = a development in terms of soundscape; a text can achieve an end-focus in order to be memorable → a new instrument entering the last part of the text Explore ancient temples! Enjoy our music concerts! Shake your legs at a grand Indian Wedding! Rich heritage, diverse culture, luxurious events: Find what you seek! Incredible India. For more information log on to incredibleindia.org The system network of social distance as an effect of perspective In a soundscape, what is meaningful in shaping social distance is loudness The combination of loudness and distance suggests a set of possible social relations between sounds and listeners: - from close (intimate, personal and informal distance) - to more distant Sound of the voice Another parameter: voice quality → how ex. actors modulate their voices → to indicate personal distance, the sound of the voice needs to include, other than low volume, qualities such as a ‘relaxed’ voice and ‘low pitch’ that is a low tone of voice. → to indicate a formal distance, a higher, tenser voice is needed, a higher tone of voice (pitch) that results from tension in the throat muscles → to indicate social distance, the sound of voice needs to include qualities such as tension and pitch as well as volume, referring to this sound as voice quality From social distance to voice quality Amplification and recording have broken the links between social distance and actual proximity. They have become independent semiotic variables. Under these circumstances, social distance is indicated by ‘voice quality’. 40 2. TIMING: Rhythm segments the stream of sound into discrete sound events: discrete moves (inter)act in the ongoing sound; The rhythmic structure of these phrases creates the pulse that marks the moments of greatest communicative value. ➔ PHRASING + PULSING PROVIDE FRAMES FOR SOCIAL ACTS 3. INTERACTION OF VOICES: SEQUENTIALITY Adjacency pairs: two different interactive participants (initiator and reactor: both individual or group): ● segregation between the initiator’s and the reactor’s move ➔ symbolic distance ● overlap between the initiator’s move and the reactor’s move ➔ symbolic closeness SIMULTANEITY Types of simultaneous interaction: ➢ unison: all participants produce the same sound ➢ plurality: different voices and instruments intertwine ➢ dominance: one dominant voice + supporting voices 4. MELODY: Melodies are related to emotions; ex: joy: wide pitch range at high pitch level, lively tempo tenderness: high pitch level, narrow pitch range, medium tempo, soft voice anxiety: mid-pitch level, extremely narrow pitch range, breathy, tense voice Of course melodies are never fixed, frozen; they are fluid and dynamic, such as soundscape PITCH MOVEMENT → ascending melodies: raise in pitch → static melodies → descending melodies: fall in pitch (relaxing melodies) The movement of melodies They can move in large or small intervals (we may have a long or a short sentence), energetic leaps, fragmented units or longer sentences (large strides). - Wide or Narrow pitch range wide: emotive expansion (excitement) narrow: emotive confinement (boredom, misery) - High or Low pitch level high: vocal effort low: relaxed voice Videos Video number 1: joyful, vibrant, engaging melody dynamic text: we have a change in pitch presence of an ascending melody conclusion: the melody remains vibrant, dynamic 41 Video number 2: natural sounds + music and voice (a male voice) in the foreground at the beginning naturals sounds: water, birds → many tension between genre integrity and genre innovation What makes the video unusual? ex. the thunder; the male voice here changes in quality: it’s low, soft and plan (not vibrant, engaging); it suggests some sort of intimate, close relationship Last parameter: 5. VOICE QUALITY AND TIMBRE Sound quality is multidimensional Qualities are graded phenomena: → tension: tense/lax → roughness: rough/smooth → breathless → loudness: soft/loud → pitch register: high/low → vibrato/plain (either a plan, flat voice or a more engaging one) Voice adaptation Professional speakers and actors change their voice according to the situation they are involved in: newsreaders’ voices become higher and tender while reading the news, while female voices promoting a perfume in a commercial become lower, more whispery and breathy. (MODALITY) ➢ Pitch range: from monotone to a maximally pitch range; ➢ Durational variation: no or various degrees of duration); ➢ Dynamic range: no or various degrees of loudness; ➢ Perspectival depth: from flat to layered music; ➢ Degrees of fluctuation: from steady to vibrato; ➢ Degrees of friction: from smooth to rough; ➢ Absorption range: from dry to spacious, reverberating, resonating; ➢ Degrees of directionality: human voice on a stage vs ‘wrap-around” sounds. CONCLUSIONS → The soundscape is a system; → meaning potential in oral systems is expressed through choices → choices can be either intentional or non-intentional → sound and hearing are part of the tourist gaze, multimodally conceived LEZIONE 9 AUDIO - VISUAL ANALYSIS CONTENTS 42 - short transition - sound continuity via music - sound continuity via voice-over Motion within a shot: the static camera Motion within a shot can relate to a represented participant (a human being running, a moving train, falling rain) or to the camera itself. Thus, on-screen movement can be produced by either a static or moving camera. Conveying a sense of stability and order, a static camera may be mounted on a tripod and, from that position, then moved either along: - the horizontal axis (panning) or - the vertical axis (tilting), or, - again, moving towards an object or person (zooming) image with a high angle: from there you can either decide to stay there or to move the camera horizontally: panning, or vertically: tilting staying there (static camera) and then zooming Camera movement and the dynamic tourist gaze A panning shot may be used to show the vastness of a natural landscape, or to express the connections between people in a given situation (also for representing a square). The tilt is often used to construct a low angle and highlight the vertical orientation of a tree or a tower, or to trace the vertical trajectory in a point-of-view shot, with the camera tilting downward or upward. A zoom may be used to foreground a detail in a room, in a landscape, or a face or operate as a trigger for a flashback sequence. The moving camera/ tourist The camera may be mounted on a moving vehicle (drone), a car, a train, or a bicycle, as a dolly. Used for more dynamic effects, the dolly can move in, out, alongside a moving item. However, slow tracking a character may suggest gradual psychological revelation or signal importance. Crane shots are airborne dolly shots: cranes lift the camera in or out of a scene and can move up, down, diagonally, in, out, or any combination of these. ex: al giro d’Italia: the camera continues moving in order to follow the people who are cycling a hand-held camera: a mano In that case, the movement is blurred, it loses its smoothness; they are exaggerated; the blurred effect communicates instability and uncertainty. What is the value projected in tourism discourse by doing so? It look real → value of AUTHENTICITY Motion within a shot: slow or fast motion/travel Not only does movement directionally make meaning: it also shows rhythm and speed: speed-relared techniques such as slow or fast motion affect narrative rhythm as they decrease or increase the pace of unfolding actions and events. ➢ Slow motion can ritualise, solemnize the scene, suggest speculation, or indicate flashbacks. 45 ➢ Fast motion can intensify natural speed or create comic effects in the case of acceleration (See Mini Matera). CAMERA MOVEMENT: fixed camera but horizontal movement: pan fixed camera but vertical movement: tilt fixed camera but moves in on the subject: zoom moving camera: follow, forward-backward tracking, circle-tracking etc. hand-held camera Again: video → concentrate on the movements performed by the camera → zooming (exceptional, not systemic) : strategy of enfasis, celebration → the camera was also panning (moving on the horizontal axis) Intra-shot movement as part of the mise en scene = it regards the staging of the action and the way it is shot by the camera films (Giannetti) The most important technique regards editing or montage montage/editing: it indicates how to combine sentences (syntax) Having many fragments it for example a technique expressing editing/montage Inter-shot movement as shaping editing scenes are sequentially organized through editing or montage. Montage derives from how the differences shots are sequentially organized: Short transitions: - cut: the basic form of transition - cross cutting (a one shot moving into another) - fade-in /out - crossfade: dissolve editing: we have some sort of patchwork It gives the idea of variety in a tourism video = we offer so much, many diverse options, a plurality of activities and experiences → they express it in terms of composition Narrator, focaliser and the tourist gaze The camera adopts the viewpoint of the traveler → a point-of-view shot enables spectators to see what a character sees (=identification). point of view: position from where we are exploring a place The camera assumes the spatial position of a character and operates as if it were the eye of the caracter. in order to show what s/he sees. → Dynamic subjective = subjective view-point ; the tourist experience is always subjective 2. LANGUAGE 46 Language in an audio-visual text Talking about language itself is limited; we may talk about speech: voice-in, voice-over and also the kind of writing we have. Voice control and editing In a video we may have voice: part of the video soundscape it is never spontaneous, natural, but it is always controlled (even what may sound natural) → it has been scripted/ rewritten, censored..: manipulation, control. NEVER AUTHENTIC The actual hesitations, repetitions, digressions, interruptions, and mutterings of everyday speech have either been pruned away, or, if not, deliberately included. Alongside human processing, technology is involved “all dialogue is recorded, edited, mixed, underscored, and played through stereophonic speakers with Dolby sound. VOICE POSITION - Quantity of speech (frequency, duration and distribution) - Number of speakers (e.g. monologue / dialogue / polylogue) - Voice quality (e.g. soft, rough, plain) [lecture 8] - Rhythm (e.g. constant, slow, fast) - Spoken text (i.e. content and form) - The metafunctional value, related to ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions - Intersemiosis (with music, noise and dynamic images) VOICE-IN / OVER: FUNCTION(S) ➢ place, time, character identification through naming, ➢ the provision of information related to past events, verbal events like secret revelation or love declaration ➢ storytelling ➢ characterisation through dialect, accent, vocal qualities and skills, ➢ drawing the spectator’s attention to something and control mood, emotions, interpretation voice-in: we see the person who is uttering the sentence; VOICE POSITION: VOICE-OVER Voice-over: we can hear but NOT see the person who’s speaking ➔ very important in films = narrative Relationship between sound and the visual track 47 Normally the plot is given by the itinerary extract from A room with a view, Foster: it shows description (relaying on verbal language): the protagonist is admiring the Arno and describing the landscape: → description of space: space is a crucial element in travel writing adjective: unfamiliar = if you travel, space is new Encounter between self and otherness otherness in general: people, language, usages and so on ● travel writing is a record or product of this encounter and of the entailed negotiation between self and otherness ● reveals both the visited place, culture and the world of the visiting culture It also enacts a view point In travel writing we have an encounter with otherness, with difference, with alternative (in a brochure, this otherness was framed through the notion of magic). Relation between the fact and fiction: reporter or story-teller? Generally first-person, (non) fictional accounts of travel First-person narrative: traveler, explorer, author, storyteller Travel writers negotiated the roles of reporter (simple record and accurate description of facts) while storyteller selects, organizes material, presents facts in an enjoyable, interesting way. Travel stories Travel book Travel diary Travel reportage Travel picture World of mouth Souvenir Video (audio-visual texts) ex. very often a souvenir tells a story: when you give it to a friend as a gift, you tell him/her something. Project to promote the Basilicata region (it became the European Capital of culture) Corpus of texts: ● 18 texts uploaded by young and international web-artists worldwide (2011-2013); ● average 4-minute length; ● about the Basilicata region and, more specifically about Matera, the 2019 European Culture Capital; ● ‘Can’t Forget Italy’ contest, launched by the BDMO 50 The Basilicata project lasted three years and was used as a pilot experience for a broader national project, followed by a constantly growing number of creative digital travel diaries about numerous Italian regions. image: Italy modified according to tourist arrivals: In Italy only 5 regions are taken into consideration: Tuscany, Lazio, Veneto, Lombardy and Trentino Basilicata is almost non-existing: that was the starting point They understood that they had to shape a tourist gaze Then: the projecte spread and was used for other regions Multimodality in the corpus Videos: are multimodal → not homogeneous, standard and formulaic; they have a multimodal composition 44% of the videos rely on dynamic images and music 28%: dynamic images, music and writing 17%: speech is added → language is estansheded both in the forms of speech and writing 11% Videos: different also in terms of popularity (based on likes, views and comments) The contest: In 2011, the BDMO launched a competition among young web-artists target: young (particular age), web (particular medium), artists 51 Within the broader Basilicata Cultura project, it developed the 2.0 web platform Can’t Forget Italy (a cinematographic production start-up) welcoming original travel diaries, narrating the regional landscape, history, art, culture, food and wine heritage. Can’t Forget Italy was a startup Target: International, young video makers, bloggers, experts in animation and in the new media, invited to express their fresh, spontaneous and alternative gaze upon the region, using digital media and their creativity. Requirements: - equipment and technical competence to produce video stories for the web. - high familiarity with social networks, in order to guarantee a widespread diffusion of the material created. - between 18 and 35 years of age, of all nationalities, with excellent written and spoken English. → also the competence constinsted in making a video visible ❖ In Sept. 2011, selected participants spent 7 days in Basilicata, to explore and experience the land and to do their shooting. ❖ By the end of the month, they were expected to send their edited video stories. The BDMO covered travel and accommodation expenses and offered € 1.500 for each video posted online. ❖ A further amount of money was given, depending on the number of views each diary had received by 31 December 2011. = here popularity matters First video: Mini Matera (2012) by Timmy Henning How is storytelling (audio-visually) performed? We have a story being told: that of a day in Matera temporal unit → the duration of the day is being considered dynamism in melody, music, in soundtrack → it accompanies the dynamic images we have several changes in volume, and also in melody (ascending and descending) from an audio view point: we definitely have music and so melody visually: the importance light the structuring device at the audio level is the soundtrack and while at the visual level: light changes Narrative and storytelling employee giving structure; in this case, the structure is that of a day, expressed through 2 main devices: soundtrack at the level of audio and light changes at the level of visual. Those changes imply movement and dynamism We also have rhythm: the speed of movements: fast motion → we have the idea of a vital, vibrant city The digital travel diary as genre Innovative and hybrid webgenre = it evoques the traditional travel books; it emerges from a process termed ‘interdiscursivity’, deriving from a contact between pre-existing forms. The digital travel diary as multimodal = the diary deploys and combines several semiotic modes MODES AND MODAL RESOURCES VISUAL TRACK AUDIO TRACK [writing] represented participants actions contact speech music sound effects 52 Most of the promotional discourse came from the industry; it was also good in understanding the tastes and feelings of the customers. ‘Advertising doesn’t always mirror how people are acting, but how they are dreaming…’ = this was already true in 1996; (2) Three products how tourism communication has changed over the years: from print to multimedia (mostly on social media). Printed forms are nowadays rare: the most advertising nowadays is done online: Instagram is the most important platform for advertising: ‘Insta rules’ (mostly STORIES rather than posts) = intangible, temporary: it fades away in seconds/hours Tourism generated and highly temporary products in tourism communication (3) 3 videos of the 3 products: 1. documentary 2. docutour: the term used to represent and include a series of domains 3. guided tour They all share the same function: to be the spoken version of a guide book (to guide tourists) - (Clip) 1: the guided tour: a guided walking tour of Edinburgh Hutton worked out what igneous, or volcanic [paraphrase], rocks, are. As can be seen in example (1), the specialized term igneous is explained with the paraphrase or volcanic in order to make it understandable for an audience of non-specialists. - (Clip) 2: the docu-tour The genre of the docu-tour is quite fuzzy, as it shares some of the features of the documentary and some of the guided tour. Clip with the curator of a museum: Because bodies were so hard to come by, of course most teachers would also use preserved specimens [image], or preparations [paraphrase], in their lectures, so bits of body pickled in alcohol or dried and varnished as dry preparations [ ] [paraphrase], and they would pass these around [ ] in their lectures for their ↅ ↅ students to look at. Interestingly, while speaking, he does not look directly at the camera, but at his interviewer (as indicated in the Gaze tier in Figure 5), who plays the role of the third viewer. Verbal and nonverbal strategies to explain a term: the use of gestures and of images as strategies to help the viewer understand the meaning of technical terms or cultural elements. Also: use of labels - (Clip) 3: the documentary Lucca documentary The large use of voice over and the presence of classical music in the background throughout the whole video Descriptions: entirely performed in voice-over + some specific terms are explained with the help of images. Romanesque churches [image] seem to be around every corner. As do inviting piazzas, [image] busy with children at play. The main pedestrian drag [image] is Via Fillungo. 55 (4) Common or distinctive features? - Where is the speaker? - Is the speech natural? - Is the register informal? - Is the viewer addressed? Documentary Docu-tour Where is the speaker? voice over on camera Is the speech natural? scripted yes Is the register informal? no (building the defies gravity) yes (ex: ‘I’m gonna’) Is the viewer addressed? no, never he always involves the speaker Are the borders between the 3 genres clearcut of fuzzy? documentaries are difficult to distinguish from docutours video about Lucca (documentary): he is talking to us in a very scripted way; he is not with us, he is still a sort of teacher: an expert; he enacts the part of a tourist: a model tourist, but not with us documentary: no attempt to involve us in the situation. Specialized domains: tours of museums and science, tours of business and economics and so on (5) Three genres ● Documentaries are generally more formal than docutours ● Docutour speakers on camera and address the audience directly ● Documentary text is written to be read, the montage is accurate, all multimodal resources are exploited ● Docutours share features of guided tours (ex. use of humor, anecdotes, situatedness- sort of virtual tours) → never possible in documentaries (scripted) ● Sometimes speakers in docutours do not address the audience- then the cameraman becomes one of us short video: the camera focuses on the curator while he is explaining; speaking, he does not look directly at the camera, but at his interviewer. Culture-bound knowledge dissemination 2 main functions of tourism discourse: leading function mediating function - leading function : Like guidebooks, tour guides and documentarists choose what is worth seeing and what is culturally meaningful and a way to describe it. Then: you have to make sure that they understand the aspects you decided to focus on ‘Foreign culture in a nutshell’ - mediating function : to reduce the cultural gap between tpurist’s home culture and destination’s culture guidebook/ tour guide: teacher tourist: child → Socialization and enculturation Mediation: Conceptual accessibility 56 It is important to be aware of the fact that not everyone shares the same knowledge, SO: be accessible and understandable by exploiting all the strategies used for popularization Popularization: reformulation and recontextualization of expert discourses that meet the needs, tastes and background encyclopedia of lay readers. = in order to achieve accessibility communication has 2 sites: verbal and non verbal Strategies used to popularize different contents: - explanation (description, definition, exemplification,...) - anchoring to the reader’s background and time (ex. San Gimignano described as a ‘Medieval Manhattan’) - attribution (when you mention the source of an information) - interaction of semiotic codes (verbal and visual) Sometimes, we have explanation for ex, through paraphrase or synonyms EXAMPLES- Strategies Because bodies were so hard to come by, of course most teachers would also use preserved specimens, or preparations in their lectures, so bits of body pickled in alcohol or dried and varnished as dry preparations, and they would pass these around in their lectures for their students to look at. → Explanation through paraphrase or synonyms Around 1900, the exchange was so packed with traders that they sometimes spilled out onto Broad Street and used such hand signals to trade in front of the building. This became known as “the curb exchange”. → Naming and explanation We can also see examples of how the stock prices were disseminated around the country by ticker tape machines which were basically teletypes. Several are on display there. Analogy teletypes = a now largely obsolete electro-mechanical typewriter that was used to communicate typed messages from point to point through a simple electrical communications channel. Now it's hard to imagine doing business this way today, when you can actually execute a trade in nearly a second on your cell phone. Anchoring James's Court. Now, the Royal Mile has what's called a "herringbone" street pattern, so, you know, like the bones in your fish they've got the spine and lots of little bones going on either side of it? → Naming, analogy That's kind of what the Royal Mile looks like, you've got the main high street, lots of little streets going on either side of it. → Exemplification Now, down some of these streets, you've got narrow passage ways called “closes”. There's one there, and we'Il go through another one in a few moments. At the bottom of some of these closes we've got open areas like this called “courts”. → Paraphrase and naming Video about a Scottish guide (Guided Tour) sometimes the terminology was not actually explained linguistically, but there was a mix of strategies: both verbal and non verbal 57 size and shape? placement? orientation: vertical or horizontal? function? Granularity depends on the number of clusters Cluster shape → traditional rectangular framework of pictures, but 2 types: - French style: longer vertical style (generally for portraits, domes and so on) - Italian style: longer horizontal style (generally for landscape) Cluster functions There are many functions: - grab users’ attention - introduce topic - provide detailed infos - summarize main points - organize infos in terms of relevance - outline the reading path Example: the previous Jamaican official Website We have to list clusters: we start from top left 1. Jamaica slogan 2. Island newsletter icon 3. the search button 4. the language option button 5. the main picture 6. ….and so on After noticing granularity and providing a list of clusters, we may focus on the main cluster: (element of innovation: interactive entertaining cluster) We may notice a compositional strategy and its effect Here: superimposed plans→ depth The background features are given by shaded brown tint,... = effect of depth playing a positive atmosphere; these strategies invite website navigation Cluster orientation It starts from placement; there is a trajectory: we follow it; it may be horizontal, vertical, circular, diagonal, spiraling etc = they may vary and are not so predictable. In a trajectory, we start from an entry point: the point that captures our attention and by which we beginning our reading/navigation ex. The main central image for the Jamaica website: the entry point then up to the title and to top left to logo + slogan to menu below again to the centre then to the lower section 60 = the non-linear pathway implies cluster hopping: it indicates moving in an unpredictable, open way. Alongside clustering, the reading path is affected by: ● cultural background ● age (older users tend to follow a more linear path) ● users’ motivation ● medium (ex. printed documents imply a more linear trajectory) ● mode ● text genre (Instagram implies hopping as trajectory) ● text orientation Linear (on the left) and non-linear texts (on the right) encode two modes of reading and two regimes of control over meaning. Clustering, symbols, relative size and placement disturb and subvert traditional reading in terms of given attention and time and trajectory. on the right: a highly fragmented, multimodal path THE HORIZONTAL READING PATH ex. in many magazines and brochures The left side is often devoted to written text, while the right side to one or more large and salient images. = sense of complementary organization and movement is established; THE VERTICAL READING PATH ex. many magazine advertisements and marketing oriented websites the lower section visualizes the product itself; the upper section visualizes the ‘promise of the product’ MULTILINEAR READING PATH =they invite hopping: clustering, relative size and placement, chromatic sources and symbols imply and open reading path 2. THE PARADIGMATIC AXIS It relies on links; Paradigmatic choices are negotiated within medium-based affordances. The main structural property of the digital medium is the hypertext link. LINKS AND READING PATHS The hypertextual link opens ‘transversals’ across clusters and, on a high level, across pages. ⇩ In hypertextuality there is neither starting point, nor unifying narrative or sequential development HYPERTEXT SEMANTICS Technically, the link allows us to be free. However, the trajectory is suggested by web-masters. The hypertext pre-codifies travelers establishing meaningful cross-associations among clusters and documents and building a proper ‘hypertext semantics’. COHESION CHAINS They reflect clause logico-semantic relations identified by Halliday for language. The website system is seen as reflecting the sentence system, in terms of internal coherence and semantic sequentiality. 61 clause: webpage = sentence: website! Units follow a logical progression; through a map we can see that the website is concerned as a strictly interwoven textual system There are certain criterias used in order to organize the websites (ex. following a geographical criteria) SO Hyper Modal analysis enables us to approach the digital genre as a systematic meaning-making environment. What do we mean by a systemic meaning-making environment? The website is a system that derives from the integration of different pages and within web pages, different clusters. Multimodality challenges logocentrism and hypertextuality challenges linearity (due to the links). BACK TO THE TOURIST GAZE: HYPERMODAL TEXTUALITY AND THE TOURIST GAZE If multimodality suggests the existence of a destination, hypermodality gives the user an impression of visiting and exploring the destination independently. How is the tourist gaze in a hypermodal environment? from the static tourist gaze (ex. brochures) to the mobile tourist gaze (in videos) now: we have added the notion of freedom, the idea of being able to navigate by using several links (which in reality are pre-organized. = DIMENSION OF INDIVIDUALITY: we start by our own smartphone/computer: we may download something and then do whatever we want. Vancouver Website page vertical trajectory because we have to scroll down: vertical axes most salient element: the image → rectangular, along the horizontal axes strategy of framing through the flowers in order to create a viewpoint Is it engaging? It does not provide a sense of magic; it does not communicate any message in a clear way Scrolling down: a fractured section organized in terms of accomodation, activities ecc → categories “Explore”: imperative form → engaging term the presence of key words Also: the presence of stories and events itineraries: list of walks which are interactive 62 These are expressed by items referring to history and tradition, and on health aspects reflected in the attitude towards relaxation or activity or in the importance of purity, for example in food and drink. (Hofstede and de Mooij, 2010). Website ‘Compare Countries’ to see the tendency of different cultures for each dimension identified by Hofstede: → As for uncertainty avoidance, Italy scored 75 out of 100: Italy has a sort of fear of the feature/ fear of something that is strange or unknown is not so welcomed in Italian culture. KEY WORDS AND KEY SEMANTIC FIELDS ● Key words: words which contribute to the persuasive aim of the tourist product; they emphasize those aspects of the holiday which meet most the potential tourist’s requirements or which guide the readers through the discovery of the main features of a tourist destination. Keyword lists are useful because they give a measure of saliency, and not just frequency as a word list does. Important also the notion of keyness: the degree to which something is key/important The Tool Keywords (website that generates keywords): The wordlist of each English corpus has been compared against the wordlists of the other three English corpora in order to identify positive keyness in a keyword list. Those words which were at the top of the keyword list in all the wordlist comparisons (for example: Canada and USA; Canada and Australia; Canada and Great Britain) have been considered keywords. In the USA Corpus : the concept of authenticity has been emphasized In the Canadian Corpus: the word beach was highly frequent The pictures present in the website main page: linked to the keywords which were found (they reflect them). = Keywords related to the environment: - the environment for Italian culture has been seen as an entity to be admired and to be part of in order to get purified; - for Canadians it is a landscape constantly changing according to seasons and weather conditions - as a setting for activities for Austrialins - a place soaked with history for the Americans - simply one of the features which characterize a destination for the British culture TESTIMONY Another verbal technique It refers to tourist advertisements featuring famous or well-known people; their presence contributes to a highly positive description of the destination. The links to dedicated social networks and blogs that can be found on tourist websites are also an example of testimony, since they represent the voice of the satisfied customer. INDIVIDUALISM / COLLECTIVISM Another dimension analyzed by Hofstede: ● This dimension reflects the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups 1) In individualistic societies, everyone is expected to look after him- or herself and his/her immediate family. 2) collectivistic societies 65 individualistic cultures adopt a more direct style of communication, placing more emphasis on facts and concreteness; collectivistic cultures (such as the Italian one) tend to adopt a more indirect style of communication, placing more emphasis on how things are said. It may even sound offensive to members of collectivistic cultures. In advertising, this difference is reflected in this dichotomy of persuasion vs. trust: Collectivistic cultures are likely to trust other people’s experiences: people acquire information more via implicit, interpersonal communication and rely more on word-of-mouth communication; conversely, in individualistic cultures, such as the American, Australian, British and Canadian ones, people actively acquire information via the media or other ‘official’ sources. The visitors and travelers who post their tourist experiences on the Italian website inspire trust among Italian readers because they are perceived as closer and are more likely to tell the truth because they are just travelers and not members of the staff → no commercial interest in the promotion of a destination. LANGUAGING Languaging can be defined as the use of local language in order to attain important pragmatic effects. Languaging adds some linguistic flavor to the tourist experience and may be used to show that language is not a barrier but can help the tourist to mix with the locals. For this reason, languaging acts as an instance of authenticity, reducing the cultural gap between two cultures. EGO-TARGETING Ego-targeting is a technique which aims to transform the persons who are targeted by the advertisement into individuals and into subjects. This is mainly achieved by using personal pronouns (such as ‘we’ and ‘you’), possessive adjectives (such as ‘our’ and ‘your’), and other expressions in which the individual is directly addressed (for example, ‘Visit England!’) In the four English corpora the use of this technique is quite visible in the use of pronouns and verb tenses. In the Italian Corpus this technique is absent. It suggests the presence of a type of promotion mainly developed through descriptions and through the activation of imagination. POWER DISTANCE Defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. In cultures with a high Power Distance there is a strong sense of social hierarchy and of social status and power is centralized. CONCLUSIONS Tourist products such as official tourist websites have two main functions: informing and persuading. For this reason, the language used to realize these functions has an important mediating role in that it reduces the distance existing between host community and guests through strategic communication, and is a means through which readers can be reached and transformed into actual tourists. → verbal technique are culture-dependent and vary from culture to culture 66 LEZIONE 14 - 15 PANDEMIC VIDEOS Covid-19 crisis & tourism promotion texts The pandemic has stopped tourism: unimpossible coexistence of the two CONTENTS - Dann’s 4 models for tourism: authentication, differentiation, recreation, appropriation - pandemic crisis and tourism promotion texts - official mini-videos Going back to the first tools at the very beginning of tourism discourse (1996): by Dann videos that will be discussed: 2 Australian and 2 Canadian Graham Dann (1996) 4 linguistic models for tourism promotional texts Book: The language of tourism - a Sociolinguistic Perspective the first book ever published on the language of tourism; it was some sort of manual This work (printed material) still offers some interesting insights into tourism discourse as a whole 4 linguistic models for tourism promotional texts: 1. Tourism as a language of authentication According to him, the first model pervading tourism discourse is AUTHENTICITY: tourism considered as a language of authentication → tourism as pilgrimage: it evoques an experience of pilgrimage (it is of course an experience of movement, but with the addition of the value of purification) → search for authenticity/purity as a push factor: psychological motivation for traveling (not a facility) → spiritual regeneration and physical recovery as effect Aim: the Holy-day: holiday experience as holy, enriching, regenerating Image: Scotland Campaign: Highland Spring perfect in shaping the idea of regeneration and the idea of recharging the batteries = Opposition between the corrupted, exhausting everyday life (which challenges our integrity) and the experience of a holiday as something holy. what everyday life takes out, Scotland puts back 2. Tourism as a language of differentiation = Tourism as novelty and change The push factor is the search for DIFFERENCE What holiday makers want and can do is an extraordinary experience (again as opposite to the everyday life, to the routine) ordinary life: the norm, the repetition, the expected; in opposition, the extraordinary is the new, the unexpected, the change and so on. 67 highly fractured: we have many scenes; a composite video (19 scenes: montage as the most important technique) 2. language: we do have speech being used we have a high number of speakers (14): multiple voices voice- in: we can see people while speaking; different people with different voice quality some sort of repetitions: there is still time for… = anaphoric patterns They are not only celebrating the attractiveness of Australia by promoting it, but they are still highlighting the fact that the pandemic is only a phase, and that everything will be fine (and we will be back visiting). Apparently: spontaneous use of speech BUT we know that in tourism discourse what seems authentic has been in reality carefully planned and scripted. Key word: explore + still (verbal items) → the pandemic has not prevented us from appreciating and experiencing Australia There are still more stories to tell: storytelling also: celebration of the local and intangible heritage + the fact of eating together as a social experience (not only food consumption) models: no need to go abroad → just experience domestic tourism (your country) Sort of temporary continuity expressed by ‘still’ We have Covid-19 negation: oblique reference to the pandemic: Australia is still worth visiting (despite the pandemic) LANGUAGE multiple forms: - presence/ absence - spoken/ written - voice- in, voice-over, intertitles - ranks, mood Multiple functions: - audience engagement - anchorage - .. Canada: Will be considering Western Canada; first video Destination British Columbia: Dream of Later 1. visual: a composite, fragmented text: 25 scenes water: present in 48% shots; the most pervasive natural element present in this video limited reference to the urban heritage (4%) human beings: depicted in 28% of images and are presented as immersed into the natural environment as if they were part of it we also have animals and forests water: related to the idea of purification = the crisis (pandemic crisis) could be a good opportunity for regeneration and British Columbia is the best place for doing that. authenticity: emphasized human beings: depicted as isolated (we do not have crowds): isolated people as to symbolize the social- distancing situation 70 isolation here has been transformed into something positive: it’s an opportunity for being immersed into natur idea of new life, of reinventing through the image of the high-rise buildings 2. verbal language: the pandemic situation has been acknowledge: sort of explicit references due to ‘distance is more important than ever’ (security measures adoption)→ distance as a value, as an opportunity for our health ‘The more we do today..’= projection; positive attitude: sort of message of hope ‘the healing touch of nature’: connected to nature and trees, which in different ways are healing; than: ‘the wonder, beauty and wilderness of nature’: sight celebration voice-over: we do not see the speaker = oral statements spoken by an unseen speaker situated in space and time other than the one being presented on the screen we have a mature female voice: mature because is sounds gentle and reassuring, reliable: it seems as if mother nature was talking one long voice over unit which holds the text together Message given: a promotional text; we definitely have the tourist gaze; it only postpones the visit later (while the pandemic is occurring) → they invite waiting for future time when the pandemic will be over (temporal dimension) Being resilient: the evoque some sort of interior, intimate and psychological power to be able to cope with the situation and to resist = present dream of future holidays ‘we are all connected, all part of something greater’ tourist gaze: the idea that tourists' ways of seeing places and people and the selection of those sights is directed and organized by the tourism industry. What’s the different effect of voice-in and voice-over in these videos? voice-in: it has a predominant interpersonal metafunction: being engaging, involving (due to for ex. eye- contact) + evoquind the idea of being there voice-over: it fulfills an ideational metafunction → it provides a message; it makes nature seems more majestic and caring (powerful but also protective); it is able to celebrate Second video Adventure in Alberta is Worth the Wait structure: very fragmented: as to symbolize that the heritage is plural model of authenticity: pervasive language: key words and writing (no spoken language) key word: worth (repetitive pattern) intersemiotic consonance: we read what we watch → there’s correspondence music: sort of aboriginal one (as to acknowledge the fact that aboroginal people owned the territory) key/salient words were in between brackets: connected to the fact that we were living in a suspended dimension (pandemic as a phase) → ideational metafunction because it names something (ex. the climb, the trek) → interpersonal metaf: they emphasize a concept → textual metaf: same strategy being used throughout the entire video Pandemic message: 71 implicit, oblique and indirect reference of the pandemic through the use of the brackets: we will be able to do everything soon Evoked through the title ‘worth the wait’ THE TOURIST GAZE IN THE 4 VIDEOS Let’s concentrate on the promotional message All the videos realize promotional functions of destination image formation. Multiple sequential scenes suggest plurality and diversity Dynamic images celebrate unspoiled yet inviting landscape Vibrant soundtracks and rhythm Verbal language: more flexible instead video 1: no language video 2: voice- in video 3: voice- over video 4: intertitles From an interpersonal view point, the voice-over is taken as an authority, therefore as something reliable voice-over as the best strategy in this case: voice of the omniscient narrator; in shapes a reliable, a reassuring message Many messages about pandemic conveyed the message of sustainability: rethink tourism as something sustainable and inclusive. 72