Multimodal media: Framing climate change

Abstract

The paper uses examples of multimodal discourse to show how frame analysis can account for the choices of form in a range of multimodal (image or image-plus-text) artifacts addressing issues of climate change. Relying on the concepts of frame metonymy and blending, the article discusses a selection of artifacts representing emergent frames such as Save the Planet and Hourglass, which are pervasive in multimodal representations of climate change. The article describes the advantages and disadvantages of common multimodal stylistic choices, while addressing issues of ‘persuasive bleaching/overload’. It also uncovers some frame-related specificities of multimodal discourse.