Abstract
Drawing on insights from a social semiotic perspective as proposed by Halliday (1985), and its adaptation to the grammar of visual design (KRESS; VAN LEEUWEN, 2006), and spatial discourse analysis (RAVELLI, 2000, RAVELLI; HEBERLE, 2016), this article aims to analyze semiotic resources used in EPCOT’s World Showcase, Disney World, Florida, USA, specifically, the eleven thematic pavilions in the attraction. The analysis considered the three metafunctions, adapted from Halliday (1985) to investigate images (KRESS; VAN LEEUWEN, 2006) as well as physical spaces (RAVELLI, 2000). Results show that the representation relies mainly on the reproduction of semiotic resources that are popular in each country in the Showcase, such as monuments, architecture styles and symbols that enable the guests to immerse in the country's culture. The immersion also happens through the consumption in shops with local products and restaurants with local foods, as well as the interaction with local cast members. The composition analysis showed a common pattern regarding the placement of items that are more approachable and real in the lower part, while items that symbolize idealization and fantasy are usually placed in the upper part of the spaces. Overall, despite the concern to portray the countries with authenticity, it can be seen that they are represented in an idealistic and fanciful way which follows the ideology of Disney’s theme parks of providing an environment of perfection and fantasy to the guests.
Highlights
With the advancement of studies in multimodality, discourse analysts are able to provide new analytical frameworks to enable a critical perspective through several modes of meaning-making
It draws on multimodality as a transdisciplinary social semiotic approach to communication (KRESS, 2010), based on Halliday’s social semiotics “concerned with the meaning-making potential, use, and development of different semiotic resources” (DJONOV; ZHAO, 2018, p. 3), with the support of the analytical framework provided by spatial discourse analysis
Concerning the vertical axis and placement of items, our analysis has shown that while most buildings of the pavilions have two or more floors, only the first floor is accessible for guests, while the others may work as decoration and architecture styles that help to build the representation of the place
Summary
With the advancement of studies in multimodality, discourse analysts are able to provide new analytical frameworks to enable a critical perspective through several modes of meaning-making. The present study aims to analyze the World Showcase, a space at the Disney World in Orlando, Florida, USA, which represents different countries in one of the most popular thematic parks in the world. It draws on multimodality as a transdisciplinary social semiotic approach to communication (KRESS, 2010), based on Halliday’s social semiotics “concerned with the meaning-making potential, use, and development of different semiotic resources” Viviane Maria Heberle, Felipe Antônio de Souza, Luiza Horbach Dodl over, even though Epcot is one of the most popular tourist attractions worldwide, there are no studies investigating the representations of the World Showcase within the critical and analytical background of spatial discourse analysis. The image of a past reality may not be entirely accurate, the experience does provide a meaningful time travel experience, which provides learning opportunities, by allowing an emotional engagement with the past – and making it available to a broader audience – and by inviting reflections about history and how we live nowadays (HJEMDAHL 2002; LUKAS 2008)
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