Reference and Multimodality: analysis of the construction of reference in advertisements for vehicles

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze the construction of the referent “vehicle” in advertisements, proposing an interface between Referencing and Multimodality. For this, it follows the sociocognitive-discursive approach of Referencing (CAVALCANTE, 2011, 2012, 2015; KOCH, 2004, 2015) and uses, as a foundation on Multimodality, the Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) Grammar of Visual Design (GVD). It analyzes, through the compositional metafunction, formed by the subcategories value of information, salience and framing, the referential construction in four advertisements for vehicles. Considering the analyzes carried out, it concludes that the categories salience and framing occur in a complementary way in the construction of the Referent, becoming, in a way, redundant, because what is arranged in the image as a disconnected element and therefore functioning independently, coincides with what is evidenced, placed in a prominent position, most of the time, centralized in the image. Specifically, regarding the analyzed discursive genre, it concludes that the referent “vehicle” is the nucleus of visual information, confirmed by the deletion effect suffered by the elements in the background. The results obtained indicate that the visual composition maintains a direct relation with the construction of the Referent.

Keywords

• Referencing
• Multimodality
• Advertisements