The study of symbols has long been considered a necessary field to unravel concealed meanings in symbols and images. These methods have since established themselves as staples in various fields of psychology, anthropology, computer science, and cognitive science. Empirical Research on Semiotics and Visual Rhetoric is a critical academic publication that examines communication through images and symbols and the methods by which researchers and scientists analyze these images and symbols. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics, such as material culture, congruity theory, and social media, this publication is geared toward academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on images, symbols, and how to analyze them.

This volume synthesizes and advances existing knowledge of consumer response to visuals. Representing an interdisciplinary perspective, contributors include scholars from the disciplines of communication, psychology, and marketing. The book begins with an overview section intended to situate the reader in the discourse. The overview describes the state of knowledge in both academic research and actual practice, and provides concrete sources for scholars to pursue. Written in a non-technical language, this volume is divided into four sections: Image and Response - illustrates the difficulty encountered even in investigating the basic influences, processes, and effects of "mere exposure" to imagery. Image and Word - presents instances in which the line between words and pictures is blurred, such as the corporate logo which is often pictorial in nature but communicates on an abstract level usually attributed to words. Image and the Ad - contributes to our appreciation for the exquisite variations among advertising texts and the resultant variability in response, not only to different ads but among different viewers of the same ad. Image and Object - carries the inquiry of visual response over the bridge toward object interaction. Having traveled a path that has gone from the precise working of the brain in processing visual stimuli all the way to the history of classical architecture, readers of this volume will have a new respect for the complexity of human visual response and the research that is trying to explain it. It will be of interest to those involved in consumer behavior, consumer psychology, advertising, marketing, and visual communication.

The chapters in this book consist of selected papers that were presented at the 3rd International Conference and Poster Exhibition on Semiotics and Visual Communication at the Cyprus University of Technology in November 2017. They investigate the theme of the third conference, “The Semiotics of Branding”, and look at branding and brand design as endorsing a reputation and inhabiting a status of almost mythical proportion that has triumphed over the past few decades. Emerging from its forerunner (corporate identity) to incorporate advertising, consumer lifestyles and attitudes, image-rights, market-research, customisation, global expansion, sound and semiotics, and “the consumer-as-the-brand”, the word “branding” currently appears to be bigger than its own umbrella definition. From tribal markers, such as totems, scarifications and tattoos, to emblems of power, language, fashion, architectural space, insignias of communal groups, heraldic devices, religious and political symbols, national flags and the like, a form of branding is at work that responds to the need to determine the presence and interaction of specific groups, persons or institutions through shared codes of meaning.

This book presents a fresh approach to the communicability of narratives, revealing the cognitive underpinnings of Charles Sanders Peirce’s pragmatistic model. It demonstrates how abductive processes modify habits of belief and action in what Peirce refers to as double consciousness. Abductions generated during double consciousness paradigms have increased efficacy compared to instinctual abductions. Novel inferences from working memory become consciously integrated with existing long-term memory units which permits fuller consideration of the plausibility of propositions. Special attention is given to children’s prelinguistic means to represent propositional or assertory conflicts, and to resolve these conflicts via listening and re-telling narrators’ accounts. Overall, this book serves both a theoretical and applied purpose. It is intended to support innovative therapeutic interventions to facilitate the (re)construction of narratives by adults and children. Its practical applications and theoretical grounding will appeal to graduate students and scholars alike, who wish to examine narrative as an interdisciplinary enterprise—an ontological and cultural phenomenon (narration by way of action/image sequences), not just a literary/linguistic paradigm. Ultimately, this account presents narrative as a modal forum to resolve logical and practical conflicts, compelling the interpreter to become an involved partner in the narrated event itself.

This book captures the state of the art in visual research. Margolis and Pauwels have brought together, in one volume, a unique survey of the field of visual research that will be essential reading for scholars and students across the social sciences, arts and humanities. The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods encompasses the breadth and depth of the field, and points the way to future research possibilities. It illustrates ′cutting edge′ as well as long-standing and recognized practices. This book is not only ′about′ research, it is also an example of the way that the visual can be incorporated into data collection and the presentation of research findings. Chapters describe a methodology or analytical framework, its strengths and limitations, possible fields of application and practical guidelines on how to apply the method or technique. The Handbook is organized into seven main sections: - Framing the Field of Visual Research - Producing Visual Data and Insight - Participatory and Subject-Centered Approaches - Analytical Frameworks and Approaches - Visualization Technologies and Practices - Moving Beyond the Visual - Options and Issues for Using and Presenting Visual Research. Eric Margolis is an Associate Professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. He is President of the International Visual Sociology Association. Luc Pauwels is Professor of Visual Culture at the University of Antwerp. He is Chair of the Visual Communication Studies Division of the ICA and Vice-President of the International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA).

Whether through speech, writing, or other methods, language and communication has been an essential tool for human cooperation and development. Across the world, language varies drastically based on culture and disposition. Even in areas in which the language is standardized, it is common to have many varieties of dialects. It is essential to understand applied linguistics and language practices to create equitable spaces for all dialects and languages. The Research Anthology on Applied Linguistics and Language Practices discusses in-depth the current global research on linguistics from the development of language to the practices in language acquisition. It further discusses the social factors behind language and dialect as well as cultural identity found behind unique traits in language and dialect. Covering topics such as linguistic equity, phonology, and sociolinguistics, this major reference work is an indispensable resource for linguists, pre-service teachers, libraries, students and educators of higher education, educational administration, ESL organizations, government officials, researchers, and academicians.

What is 'translation'? Even as the scholarly viewpoint of translation studies has expanded over recent years, the notion of 'translation' has remained fixedly defined by its interlinguistic element. However, there are many different contexts and disciplines in which translation takes place for which this definition is entirely unsuitable. Exploring translational aspects in contexts in which scholars do not think about 'translation', this book considers the alternative uses of the term beyond the interlinguistic dimension. Taking our understanding of 'translation' back to its basic semiotic principles, leading experts outline the wide variety of alternative fields of study, practices, applications and contexts in which the term 'translation' is used. Chapters examine 11 different fields of study, exploring what the term 'translation' means, how it is used and what it could contribute to an enlarged understanding of 'translation' as a concept. In this way, the volume argues for a reimagining of what we mean by translation, providing an essential reference for anyone interested in how translation is understood and practiced beyond the narrow perspectives of the field of translation studies itself.