Semiotica 182–1/4 (2010), 519–533 0037–1998/10/0182–0519 DOI 10.1515/semi.2010.070 © Walter de Gruyter Review article Unravelling the mechanisms of multimodal multiplication* SABRINA MAZZALI-LURATI Given the always greater prominence it gains in our usual communicative fows, multimodality is a topic of major interest in current semiotic and com- munication research. In his most recent book, Multimodality and genre: A foundation for the systematic analysis of multimodal documents, Bateman deals with it in great detail, with a main focus on the analysis of multimodal documents in a perspective that strictly relates multimodality to the notion of genre. In developing this issue, the author provides, on the one hand, a rich and well-informed overview on the different approaches to multimodality elabo- rated up to now in different felds of research and, on the other hand, a theo- retical exploration of both multimodality and genre. This way through ap- proaches and defnitions is fundamentally guided by the practical concern of providing “a framework that can begin to unravel the mechanisms of multi- modal multiplication” that characterize multimodal documents ( p. 2) “on a sound empirical and scientifc basis” ( p. 13). This is the declared main task and goal of the book. Such a framework constitutes, in Bateman’s view, a fundamental step to be taken in order to get out of the shortcomings of current widespread ways of approaching multimodality. In fact, according to the author, research on this topic often suffers from the bias of pre-structuring the results of the analysis “with preconceptions imported from our experience with other kinds of semi- otic artefacts” ( p. 11). Bateman observes that, although many researchers in different felds have been studying multimodality (trying to describe it, defne it, and to identify the roles and contributions of the different semiotic modes), no suffciently rig- orous and systematic method for the analysis of multimodal documents has yet been elaborated. The different approaches pursue their different aims and, therefore, focus on different (and only some) aspects of the multimodal text ( p. 24) or adopt a perspective of analysis that does not stem from a pure observation * Bateman, John, Multimodality and genre: A foundation for the systematic analysis of multimodal documents. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Brought to you by | Penn State - The Pennsylvania State University Authenticated Download Date | 5/24/15 10:44 PM