Relevance theory

  Relevance theory: Why is relevance theory (see Sperber & Wilson, 1987) relevant? How can relevance theory (originally developed to account for verbal, face-to-face communication) be adapted to account for visual, multimodal, and mass communication? Apply at least two of the theory questions (theoretical approaches and models) that you have answered in part 1 to a particular example (or examples) of visual communication. Possible subjects for analysis include: • Still images: e.g., drawings, paintings, photographs. • Moving images: e.g., film, television. • Digital images and “new media”: e.g., still and moving images presented in various digital environments (including internet web pages) and on various mobile devices. • Multimodal communication: How are (visual) images combined with information from other modalities such as (language-based) text or (auditory) sound, and to what effect? • Visual persuasion: How are images used to advertise and market commercial products, political parties, and social causes? (And what are the ethical implications?) • Visual metaphor: How are visual metaphors used in such advertising and marketing?