1st Edition

The Discourse of YouTube Multimodal Text in a Global Context

By Phil Benson Copyright 2017
    134 Pages 20 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    140 Pages 20 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Discourse of YouTube explores the cutting edge of contemporary multimodal discourse through an in-depth analysis of structures, processes and content in YouTube discourse. YouTube is often seen as no more than a place to watch videos, but this book argues that YouTube and YouTube pages can also be read and analysed as complex, multi-authored, multimodal texts, emerging dynamically from processes of textually-mediated social interaction. The objective of the book is to show how multimodal discourse analysis tools can help us to understand the structures and processes involved in the production of YouTube texts. Philip Benson develops a framework for the analysis of multimodality in the structure of YouTube pages and of the multimodal interactions from which their content emerges. A second, and equally important, objective is to show how the globalization of YouTube is central to much of its discourse. The book identifies translingual practice as a key element in the global discourse of YouTube and discusses its roles in the negotiation of identities and intercultural learning in videos and comments. Focusing on YouTube as a key example of new digital media, The Discourse of YouTube makes a substantial contribution to conversations about new ways of producing multimodal text in a digital world.

    1 Introduction

    2 Multimodality

    3 YouTube and new media discourse

    4 Designing the YouTube website

    5 Designing YouTube pages

    6 Producing YouTube texts

    7 YouTube in a global context

    8 Conclusion

    Biography

    Philip Benson is Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages and the City University of Hong Kong and Director of the Centre for Popular Culture and the Humanities.