INTERSEMIOTIC THEORIES: TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE INTERPLAY OF LANGUAGE AND VISUAL IMAGES IN MOVIE POSTERS

Abstract

The present paper aims to propose a preliminary adapted framework to analyze the relations between language and images in movie posters. After critically reviewing some major approaches to intersemiosis with both their strengths and weaknesses, the study decides to employ the Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) discoursal approach in general and the specific framework of Bateman’s (2008) Genre and Multimodality (GeM) for the purposes of the current study. The review also suggests the need to include compositional features into the discussion of text-image relations. Putting all these issues into consideration, the paper finally develops an adapted analytical framework that employs Bateman’s (2008) GeM as a platform and combines the layout and RST layers of GeM with compositional features for a more thorough examination of the roles of the visual and verbal elements. The application of the adapted model is then illustrated by the analysis of the theatrical release poster of What women want (2000).