DECODING MULTIMODAL TEXTS OF MEDIA DISCOURSE

Abstract

In modern print and online media, the verbal text is increasingly being replaced by a multicode material, whose verbal component is illustrated, supplemented, and multiplied by the visual component. At the same time, the value and impact of the visual component increases immeasurably: vivid images are imprinted in the mind, making a powerful effect on readers and viewers. Since most media texts being multicode, special studies of such texts have become especially relevant today. Hence, based on the descriptive, analytical, non-verbal-culturological methods of research, this article discusses the role and relationship of visual and verbal texts, the advantages of the visual code as a carrier of implicit information on the covers of periodicals. The decoding of the multimodal text from The Economist magazine demonstrates clearly that, as a rule, the non-verbal component attracts more attention and inspires more confidence in the recipient. Because the non-verbal component is quite difficult for the addressee to track consciously, the additional manipulative potential of the metaphorical image is used in the text.