Multimodality and the study of popular drama

Abstract

This article reviews a range of methodological issues in the study of dialogue in popular drama (film and television). First of all it discusses some of the factors that may until recently have acted to discourage such research, showing that there are no intractable difficulties. Secondly it compares two recent logocentric studies of dialogue-in-film, one emerging from stylistics itself (McIntyre, 2008) and one from film studies (Kozloff, 2000), both of which, despite a primary focus on interactive spoken language, recognize and address the multimodal character of film productions. Finally, it concludes that, subject to certain provisos, there is merit in approaching the multimodality of film and TV drama productions from a methodologically logocentric perspective.