Third Bremen Conference on Multimodality

BreMM17 is the third in a series of conferences dedicated to bringing together different disciplinary and methodological approaches to the study of multimodality in various academic contexts. More than ever, multimodality is one of the most influential semiotic theories for analyzing media artifacts, and it enjoys growing global popularity. However, this popularity does not imply universality: the conceptual anchoring of multimodality as well as its empirical applications often remain nationally and regionally grounded.
The Bremen team takes these differences in national and international perspectives as a starting point of discussion and analysis. We continuously initiate deeper inquiry into the specific theories and practices of multimodal research: BreMM14 was dedicated to building bridges between various multimodality-ready disciplines, and BreMM15 concerned itself with theoretical and methodological explorations. Both conferences resulted in edited volumes which present each event’s strongest contributions and serve as the basis for lasting academic exchange on the ever-new topic of multimodality in theory and practice.
The upcoming Third Bremen Conference, BreMM17, plans to lay the foundation for the formation of a standalone discipline to be dubbed ‘multimodality’ as opposed to the widespread interdisciplinary view. Its aim is, therefore, to push the envelope and start far-reaching discussions which cover description, terminology, and methodology, bringing a multitude of approaches to multimodal analysis into the fold and letting previously disparate directions in theory and practice converge. The end result will be a common basis upon which the monolithic view of multimodality as a concerted disciplinary field can be built.

The confirmed keynote speakers for BreMM17 are:
Kay O’Halloran (Curtin University, Australia)
David Machin (Orebro University, Sweden)
Ellen Fricke (Chemnitz University, Germany)