Multicodal and multimodal texts as a locus generating cultural concepts on migration and migrants

Abstract

Aim. To study the verbal signs functioning in multicodal and multimodal texts, as a means constructing collective systems of stereotypes concerning migration and migrants.
Methodology. The current paper studies multicodal and multimodal texts of the genres that combine visual and verbal elements – they are caricatures, promotional videos, and feature films. The analysis is based on the systematic approach to cultural concepts as mental units that are expressed in languages by words and set word-combinations and are supplemented by the signs belonging to other semiotic systems. These units represent culture in human conscience and psychology.
Results. The research shows that cultural concepts are dynamic phenomena. Verbal units, being their key elements, participate in their generation and transformation, besides, the role of discourse in cultural concept formation is revealed. The analysis proves that the impact of cultural concepts on an addressee depends varies depending on the text genre, the author’s intentions, and the used means of expression.
Research implications. The article analyzes the role of verbal components in the formation of culturally and socially important concepts “against the background” of the multicodal and multimodal nature of modern communication. The conclusions of the research can be applied in research methodology and courses on intercultural communication.