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Multimodality,MaterialityandEverydayTextualities:

TheSensuousStuffofStatusCrispinThurlowChapterpreparedfor:HandbookofIntermediality,ed.GabrieleRippl ,DeGruyter

Abstract: Four seemingly banal objects – a pepperpot, a napkin, apack of tissues and a pair ofpyjamas–willfunctionasthecomplicatingactionsforthenarrativepresentedhere.Onthesurface,this will be a story about the production of luxury in contemporary consumer culture. At root,however,itisasocialsemioticsofsuper‐elitemobilities,anidealdomainforexploringthematerialityoflanguageandtheinherentlymultimodalnatureofeverydaytextualpractices.Thischapterisalsoofferedasaninterdisciplinaryreflectiononpossibleconnectionsbetweenacademicdomains.Justasmanylinguistsareseekingtopushbeyondthebinarizingboundariesoflanguageand thesemioticrest ,thepursuitsofliterarystudiesanddiscoursestudiesmaybemoreeasilyalignedthanonemightimagine.Wemayprioritizedifferentsites,differenttexts,differentobject ive s,butourcoreinterestsmaynotbeallthatfarremovedwhenitcomestounderstandingtheinterplayofsemioticresources.KeyTerms:multimodality,socialsemiotics,visual‐materialresources,luxury,elitistdiscourse1IntroducingMultimodality(andSocialSemiotics))n discourse studies, recognition of the inherently and unavoidably mediated nature of allcommunicativeactionprecludesusfromanotherwiseisolationistsemiotics,onethatseparatesoutorprivilegesasinglemodeofcommunication NorrisandJones .Forlinguists,thishastypicallybeen language,whichwe have tended to extract from its naturally occurring contexts of use fortheoreticaldeliberation,orkeptapartfromnonverbalbehaviourandphysicalsettingforthesakeofanalysis. To talk of mediated communication is, however, about as sensible as speaking ofoxygenated breathing. )n reality, there is no communicationwithoutmediation. Language nevertakes place, nevermakes sense, outside of its situated, embodied,multi‐sensory uses –whethergushing from the pages of a book, reverberating in the ears of speakers, or glistening on citybillboards. For scholarly convenience or rigour, we often bunker down around disciplinaryinvestigationsof,say,words,images,soundsorspaces.Theseacademicexercisesdetachandabstractmeaning‐making practices from their patentlymultimodal realities. Besides, the isolating of, say,languagefromitsrichercontext–likethedisembeddingofbooksfromtheirembodiedmomentsof

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reading – becomes increasingly difficult nowadays when so many texts are materially andsemioticallyvaried.Take,forexample,thewebpagereproducedonthenextpage;itisfromtheLuxuryTravel

FairinLondon.Whatwehavehereisaquintessential textofourtimes ,onethatdemonstrateshowitispracticallyandexperientiallyimpossibletodisentanglethearrayofsemioticresourcesatworkinmanycontemporarytexts:words,images,typefaces style,designandsize ,colourandshading,layout,icons i.e.forvarioussocialmedia ,andarangeofdirectionalandframemarkings i.e.therepurposedparentheses,theblockedtitleslike OFF)C)ALFA)RV)DEO .Thetextisacompositeoranensemble.Agestalt.Thedifferentsemioticresourcesandmeaning‐makingpracticesarealldoingdifferentkindsofcommunicativework,whilealsoworkingtogethertogenerateanaffectivereactionandaneffectiveresponse.Whichdoesnotmeanthatwehavetolikeit,getitoragreewithit.Thewebpageisalsoahypertextualandmulti‐mediatext,offeringmultipleopportunitiestoengageandmanipulatethecontentfurther:clickingthroughtootherpages,selectingdifferentreadingpaths,watchingavideo,tweeting,orrequestingmoreinformation.Complextextslikethesearedesigneddeliberatelytobemultimodal–forexample,visual,verbal,gestural,tactile,musical–andtobe read inmoreopen‐endedways.[ ] Texts are certainly not simplypassive representationsof theworldtheyneverwere ;theyalsodemandourattentionandinteractwithusbyaskingustodothings seefollowusonTwitter andinvitingusintorelationships realorimagined,instantordelayed withtheauthorsofthetextandwiththepeopledepictedinthetext seethesmilingcelebrityin meettheexperts . And these communicative actions are accomplished with words, images, colours,typefaces,layout,andsoon.)t would be wrong, of course, to suggest that multimodality is somehow a modernphenomenonoradistinctivelynew‐mediaone.Eveninquitestraightforwardways,cavepaintings,illuminatedmanuscriptsandVictorianpostcardswereclearlymultimodalaccomplishments.)ndeed,theriseinmultimodalstudies ormultimodalanalysis isunderstoodtobeaproductofsocalledvisual,spatialandmaterialturnsacrossthesocialsciencesandhumanities,whichthemselvesmay–at least in part – be explained by larger intellectual paradigm shifts towards complexity andinteractivity,andtowardsdisorderandthemessystuffofeverydaylife Jewitt .Multimodalanalysisisundoubtedlyaninterdisciplinarypursuit:closelyalliedwithworkbeingdoneinmediaand cultural studies, as well as in pragmatics, sociolinguistics and discourse studies; it is alsonecessarily informedby theworkof geographers, anthropologists and sociologists. Likemanyofthesedisciplinary traditions,multimodal analysis attends to the culturalandpolitical contextsofcommunicative action. )mportantly,multimodal analyses look beyond the discursive content ofimagesandothertextstoexaminethechoiceofmodeisitselfwhichisladenwithcommunicative,epistemological and ideological significance. Each communicativemode expressesmeaning in itsowndistinctiveway.)nfact,akeyprincipleofmultimodalityisthatdifferentmodesare,well,modesintheirownright.Colour,sound,space,touchareascommunicativelyrichand grammatically sophisticatedasspeechorwriting.Theirapparentsimplicityorinsufficiencyisusuallyaproductofourownrestrictedunderstandingandlimiteddescriptivepowers.Colourcommunicatesinwaysthatwordsoften

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cannot.Ourwords typically failuswhen it comes tomakingsenseof the tenmillioncoloursourbrainscantechnicallyperceive JuddandWyszecki .Thereareonlysomanythingswecandowith ourwords, only somanywayswe canmake sense of other communicativemodes. This isbecausecolour, sound, spaceand touchaffordopportunitieswhichwordsdonot KressandvanLeeuwen . What is more, these other modes are capable of expressing representationalmeanings,relationalmeaningsandcompositionalmeanings.Colourcan,forexample,depictourworldviews e.g. pinkisforgirls ,generateinterpersonalfeelings e.g.bereavementorcelebration ,andstructure/coheretexts e.g.foremphasisorconnection–seethepurplewordsabove .Noneofthisistosaythatlanguageiswithouttremendousinfluenceandsemioticweight;itremainsoneofourmostdominant,institutionallyestablished,scientificallystudiedmeaning‐makingsystems,andespeciallyusefulforexpressingabstractnotionsordistantiatedexperiences. Addressing the challenges of multimodal communication – as both a theory ofcommunicative action and as amethod for its analysis – has been central to thework of socialsemioticians cf. Aiello for a neat introduction . )t is beyond the confines of this essay toreproduceamoredetailedaccountoftheintellectualoriginsofsocialsemioticsandtodojusticetothearrayofacademictraditionsthatfeedcontemporaryresearchpractice cf.Jewitt andotherpublicationslistedinthefurther‐readingsectionofthischapter .Nonetheless,beforeturningtomyluxurious demonstration,)wanttoofferseveralimportantgroundingsinsocialsemiotics,thefirstofwhich medium,modeandmeaning ispresentedasasnapshotonthenextpage.Together,thesegroundingsofferpracticaldirectionsfororganizingasocialsemioticanalysis. CommunicativeMeta‐FunctionsAkeyfeatureofsemioticmodesistheircapacitytofullyandself‐sufficientlyservethethreecore or meta functions of all communicative action (alliday ; Kress and vanLeeuwen ,whichare: ideationalorrepresentationalfunction–thecapacitytodepictorexpresscertaindiscourses,storiesorclaimsabouttheworldatlarge; interpersonal or interactional function – the capacity to generate emotional andrelationalconnectionsbetweenthereader,theauthor,andthepeople/charactersdepictedinatext; textualor compositional function– the capacity toorganizeandcohere texts, toguidereadersbyprioritizingorhighlightingdifferenttypesofinformation.Usefully, this three‐part theoretical framework points to some directions for analysingmultimodaldiscourse.Accordingly,wecanconsidernotonlytherepresentationalmeaningsaka content conveyedby,forexample,aparticularchoiceofcolour,typefaceorsound,butwecanalsoidentifyhowdifferentsemioticresourcesengagereaders/viewersemotionallyand relationally e.g. challenging, amusing or persuading them , and the way semioticresourceshelptextstohangtogetherandworkasensembles.

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mediummediaarethematerialresourcesusedintheproductionofsemioticproductsandevents,includingboththetoolsandthematerialsused./ifasemioticresourceisorganisedasamedium,ithasonlya lexis …

m o d e modesaresemioticresourceswhichallowthesimultaneousrealisationofdiscoursesandtypesofinter action./ifasemioticresourceisorganisedasamode,ithasbothagrammaranda lexis …meaning meaning…resultsfromhumanengagementwiththeworld,andtheresourcesweuseinarticulatingandinterpretingmeaningcomprisebothsemioticsmodesandsemioticmedia[ ]

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MethodologicalObjectives)n practical terms, social semiotics is committed to the following objectives, outlined bya/theleadingscholarinthefield vanLeeuwen , : inventories–collecting,documentingandcataloguingsemioticresources; settings–investigatinghowtheseresourcesareusedandtalkedaboutinspecifichistorical,culturalandinstitutionalcontexts; applications–developingnewresourcesand/ornewusesofexistingresources.)nmyownwork,theseactivitieshavedirectedmetothreeanalyticstepsformakingfullersense of any particular discursive practice: description, which may entail looselyquantitative procedures to account for the semiotic repertoires deployed in a text;

interpretation,whichconsidershowmeaningpotentialsareconventionalizedandculturallysignificant; and critique, which seeks to connect singular often banal texts orcommunicativeactionsto larger/widersocial‐politicalprocesses seeThurlowandAielloforamoredetailedaccountofthisapproach .CriticalPerspectivesUniting social semiotics, critical discourse studies and cultural studies is a sharedcommitment to understanding what kinds of identities, actions, and circumstances areconcealed,abstracted,orforegroundedinatext Machin , .Theseinevitablyhaveideological implications. Similarly, the recontextualization of words, genres and notionsfromonetextorpracticetoanothermeansthatsomemeaningsarelostandsomearegained;all are inevitably reframed. These, too, are matters of ideology. With this in mind, andfollowingMachin ,socialsemioticianstypicallyattendtothefollowingprocesses:

deletion–whatisexcludedfromarepresentationandhowcertainmodesconcealorreveal informationbetterthanothers? addition–whatalternativemeaningsdodifferentmodesaddtoatextandprivilegesomemeaningsoverothers? substitution–howdodifferentmodeseffectivelyreplaceordominateothermodesin a text? how do certainmodes call attention to themselves as the expense ofothers? evaluation–howdodifferentmodesexpressthegoals,valuesorprioritiesoftheauthors/creatorsofthetext,orofthepeoplerepresentedinthetexts?Social semiotics, like most multimodal approaches, is committed, as both a critical ideal and amethodologicalprinciple,tounderstandinghowmeaningmakingtakesplaceallovertheplace.Andnotonlyinthehandsandmouthsofsociety sratifiedspeakersandtextproducers,butalsothoseofeveryday communicators. )ndeed,most people s communicative practices are invariably agentfulandcreative;theyaredefinitelyalwayspurposeful althoughnotalwaystransparent andrelevanttothesituationathand.Thisiswhysocialsemioticianseschewmeanings e.g. redmeansanger infavourofmeaningpotentials i.e. redmaymeananger,passion,good fortune,danger,butseldom

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meanscold .Withintheseculturallyrelativeandhistoricallyvariableconventions,thereisplentyofroom for polysemyand innovation. Likeprofessional communicators e.g. designers, advertisers,architects,artists ,laycommunicatorscan anddo select,combineandreworkmodesandsemioticresources in even their most banal interactions and text‐makings. (aving said which, ourcommunication choices andopportunities arenever completely free or equal; all communicativeaction is shaped by cultural norms, values andwider political‐economies. For this reason, socialsemioticiansfrequentlylocatetheiranalysesofcommunicativeactionsinrelationtosocialprocessesofinequality,privilege,accessandinstitutionalcontrol Machin .Thisbringsusnicelytothecase‐studyexampleofsocialsemioticsinaction.

2.ASocialSemioticsofLuxury(andElitistDiscourse)Againstthisbriefoverviewofmultimodality/socialsemiotics,)wanttoturntofourbanalobjects:apepperpot,anapkin,apackoftissues,andapairofpyjamas.[ ]Thisstuffpresentsitselfasaneatsocialsemioticconundrum.(owarewetomakesenseoftheseobjectsascommunicativeactions,aswaysofrepresentingtheworld orsayingsomethingaboutit ,aswaysofinteractingwithusers,andasbroadermeta‐communicativeortextualaccomplishments?Allfouroftheseobjectsfoundtheirway intomy life – and ontomydesk – as part of a collaborative research programmeon elitistdiscourse in thecontextof high‐end orsocalled luxury travel e.g.Thurlowand Jaworski ,, , , forthcoming . Artefacts like the ones here helpme to understand how status,prestigeanddistinctionareproducedthroughaconstellationofcommunicativeactions i.e.differentgenres,stylesanddiscourses andalwaysasacombinationofsemioticmodesandresources.Thisisaninherentlyinterdisciplinary,multimodalprojectdrawingonmulti‐sitedethnographicfieldwork,discourseanalysesofadvertisingandotherprintmaterials,aswellastheinterpretationofahostofvisual,materialandspatialpractices. )t is thiswhichbringsusalso toseeminglybanal,pointlessobjectslikethepepperpot,napkin,tissuesandpyjamas.)ncontrast,perhaps,totheusualliterarypursuitsof intermedialityscholars, theseare thekindsofeveryday textsandpractices thatoftenoccupysocialsemioticiansandmultimodalityscholars.Tobeclear,theanalysiswhichfollowsisnotpresentedasadefinitiveornecessarilytypicalexampleofsocialsemiotics;thefieldisvastandvaried,andinevitablyshapedbydifferenttraditionsandscholarlystyles.Thecombinationofbiography,ethnographyandperformanceiscertainlymyownpreference–includingthedeliberateselectionofafirst‐person,auto‐ethnographicvoiceinthetraditionofQueerscholarship AdamsandJones .Nonetheless,whatthispottedanalysishasincommonwithmostsocialsemioticanalysesisthefollowing: a thedescriptionandinventoryingofothermodesandtheirparticularaffordances; b anattentiontotheinterplaybetweensemioticresources; c acriticalframingaroundquestionsofpolitical‐economyandideology.)mportantly,myanalysis here also orients explicitly to the allied enterprises of semiotic landscapes research cf.Jaworski andThurlow and languagemateriality cf. Shalini andCavanaugh , both ofwhich are pushing language and communication scholars to think in more comprehensivelymultimodal ways. One of the most significant moves that social semiotics makes, as part of itscommitmenttomultimodality,istoliftanalysesoffthepage,shiftingfromattentionfromabstracted,

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disembeddedprinttexts/imagestothesituated,emplaced,embodiedactionsofthesetexts/imagestheirproductionandconsumption . )notherwords, turning froma two‐dimensional toa three‐dimensionalperspective.)ndeed,withindiscoursestudies,theconventionalnotionoftextisoftenexpanded ifnotexploded beyondtheword‐dominantgenresofwritingorspeech.Thus, textuality combinesandplayswiththerepresentationalaffordancesoflanguageaswellasthemultisensorypossibilitiesoftexture(sic),affectandothernon‐representational cf.Thrift or,atleast,more‐than‐representationalexperiences. )nthisregard,andasanintermediatesteptowardsthefourobjectsintroducedabove,)wanttoconnecttheLuxuryTravelFairwebsiteasanideal,contemporary ‐Dtexttoanactual, ‐Dsite:theBurjalArabhotelinDubaiwhichstylesitself theworld smostluxurioushotel .[ ]ThishotelisalsoaperfectmetonymicexampleoftheworldpromotedbytheLuxuryTravelFair.)nparticular,)wanttodemonstratehowtherhetoricsofthewebsiteactually takeplace andaremademanifestinpractice. To properly understand the orders of discourse i.e. a network of social practices , cf.Fairclough , bywhichsuper‐elitemobilityisorganizedandrealized,oneisforcedtoengageafarmoreextensive,elaboratesemioticfield.(ere,forexample,ishowthelanguageoftheLuxury

TravelFairistakenup notasimplycausalorsequentialrelation inthedepictionofasingle room ontheBurjalArab sownwebsite:DELUXETWO‐BEDROOMSUITE

Welcometothedecadent335squaremetretwobedroomDeluxeSuite.Perfectforfamilyand

friends,thisheavenlysuitespanstwoimpeccablelevelsandfeaturesmagnificentviewsofthe

ArabianGulfthroughout.Thisspaceincludestwolounges,twoexquisitebedroomsoverlooking

thesea,aprivatediningroom,twomasterbathrooms,aprivatebarandabutler’skitchen.This is the kind of hyperbolic linguistic flourish we quickly recognize as typical of advertisingdiscourse: deluxe , decadent , heavenly , impeccable and magnificent but it isalsoa lexiconofexcess,superiorityandother‐worldlinessespeciallytypicalof luxuryadvertising cf.ThurlowandJaworski , . The semioticization – the verbal rendition – of space deserves specialattention.Luxuryandelitestatusarepredicatedonarelentlessperformanceofspace thisis,afterall,notaroombuta suite –havinglotsofitandhavingexclusive, private unhinderedaccesstoit.And the staging of spaciousness depends on a range of multimodal techniques and semioticresources,startingwiththerhetoricalspecificityofquantification squaremetres andscalelevels and views .)mportantly,however,theserhetoricsarefulfilledintangible,embodiedandmaterialways.)ndeed,spaceitself–notonlythetalkofspace–isanothersemioticresourcefortheperformanceofelitestatusanddistinction.Takealookatthemontageonp. drawnfromourownfieldwork cf. Thurlowand Jaworski formorebackgroundabout this research . This is thedeluxetwo‐bedroomsuite wheretheproductionofspaceispatentlyspectacular,excessiveandfullymultimodal:chandeliers,classicalcolumns,floor‐to‐ceilingwindows,canopiedbeds,andsoon.Alsonoticethesweeping,ornate i.e.attention‐seeking staircase,thedomedceilingmuralofastarrysky,theromanticwrap‐aroundlandscapepaintinginthe one‐of‐two bathrooms,andthebedorientedtothewindowsandtheendless,emptyskiesbeyond.)ndeed,theultimatevisual‐material

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performanceofsuper‐elitespaceisitsvacuousness:ostensiblystagedforoccupancy fourbarstools,multiplelivingrooms,granddiningtables ,butpurposefullydesignedtobeunderutilized liketheelevator–notshown .Aswehaveremarkedbefore,theexcessive,expansivespacesofluxuryhavespacestospare Thurlowand Jaworski .Space isan indispensablesemioticresource in theperformanceandperformativerealizationofsuper‐elitestatus,aspowerful–perhapsmoreso–thanany words or images. )t is a resource ) have myself deliberately toyed with on p. . And thesediscursive practices circulate far beyond the literal spaces of luxury travel. Space, as bothrhetoric/salespitchandasstructural/materialreality,hasbecomeoneofthedefiningstratifiersofourtime: Todaymorethanever, says(enriLefebvre, classstruggleisinscribedinspace [ ], ,althoughhemightnothaveforeseentheextentorminutedetailtowhichthisisplayingouttoday.Onthisnote,)turnnowtomypyjamasasthefirstofthefourobjects,eachframedasamultimodalvignette.

Vignette1:PyjamasNotalonewithfurnishingfirst‐classcustomerswithpyjamas,thenow‐defunct all‐business‐class airlineeoshadapairlikethese,tiedtogetherwitharibbon,readyforeachpassengeraka guest .Medium,largeorextra‐large?Withitsslightlyobscureclassicalallusion,thename eos appears as a machine‐stitched embroidered monogram, resonating with asimilarlyold‐fashioned,regalstatusmarker.Thepyjamas,asurprisinglyestablishedtacticforperforming first‐class ,areneatexamplesof syntheticpersonalizationwherebymasshowevereliteandrelativelyfew consumersareseeminglytreated personally asuniqueindividualsworthyofspecialattentionandintimatecare cf.Fairclough .Needlesstosay,thedecadentfrissonandintimatepromiseofthesepyjamasdidnotmaterializeintheirembodiedexecution.Likeeveryoneelse,)assume,)contortedmyselfinelegantlyand,hadthedoorflungopen,compromisinglyinthebody‐huggingspaceoftheon‐boardtoilet.Suchwasmynaïvedeterminationtofulfilthepromiseofbeingstyledelite,)perseveredandthenemergedintothesoftlylitcabin.)nmypyjamas!)sleptnobetter,theplanearrivednoearlier,

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buttherubofsoft,semi‐syntheticclothagainstmyskinreassuredmeofmycosy,privilegedpassage.

Vignette2:PepperPotThe excess of the pyjamas is played out in smaller ways, too. (ere we have anotherperformanceofplentypredicatedonwaste ratherthansustainability .)ndeed,)haveyettoreadastudywhichassessestheenvironmentalimpactofluxury.Thislittlepepperpotwaslifted from an elaborately staged business‐class dinner tray also, ) hasten to add, afieldworksiteliketheeostrip .)nsomeways,thistrinketisthequintessentialmultimodalluxury text: the white ceramic itself, the golden calligraphy of the Emirates logo, thedelicately painted more likely printed flourishes around the pot, and the inherentdisposabilityand,thus,extravaganceofitall. )t isnotthepracticalutilityoftheseobjectswhichcounts,ofcourse,butrathertheirexpressivefunction,theirnarrationintotheoverallstagingofluxuryandstatus cf.ThurlowandJaworski .Noram)aloneindrawingoffasymbolicresonancefromthesebanalobjects. Saltandpeppershakersalwaysaddatouchof class to ameal. So says one reviewer forAustralianBusinessTraveller.[ ] People donotice,peopledocare.Thesemioticgameswork.And,inthiscommentary,wefindevidencealso for the ways semiotic practices are constantly recontextaulized i.e. lifted up andcirculatedelsewhere andresemioticized,withmaterialresourcestransformed back intolinguisticonestogetherwithnew/differentmeaningpotentials.Vignette3:NapkinMuchofwhat takesplaceacross the luxury landscapesof super‐elite travel is trivialandfleeting.Whatmarksthingsasluxuriousoreliteis,needlesstosay,itspackaging–literalandfigurative. )notherwords, inexpensive tat ismademagical throughakindofmultimodalalchemy. One ofmymost recent, non‐fieldwork acquisitions comes from an unexpectedupgradetobusiness‐classwhere)wasservedlunchalongwiththisprimeexampleofthe

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primacyofdesignoversubstance.Contrastedwiththepapernapkinsineconomyclass,thislittleoneclaimsitsprestigethroughitscloth‐ness,itslinen‐ness–avisual‐materialresourceformarkingdistinction,authenticity,qualityandtradition.Stylingitself and,therebytheserviceandairline asfancy,thisobjectworksitsmagiconmetoo:forjustamoment,)ampersuadedofitsauthenticityandallowmyselftobehailedasfancytoo.Andthen,oncloserinspection suchistheself‐justifyingcuriosityandself‐satisfyingcynicismofthescholar ,)noticethatitisnotlinenatall:Thedrawn‐threadworkisactuallyaseriesofprintedgreydots.Thewhole thing is an artful simulationof linenand, thus, aperfect exampleof theaestheticization Featherstone ofnaturalmaterials.Asemiotic,multimodalruse.

Vignette4:TissuesAndnow,afarlesssubtleinstanceofaestheticizationatwork,onewhichaddsanothertwistto the multimodal alchemy. Super‐elite landscapes are awash with words appealing toprestige, superiority, exclusivity and distinction. The Luxury Travel Fair, for example,

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promotesitselitistvisionofluxurybymeansof bespoke , boutique , tailor‐made , hand‐picked , definitive , finest , unique , first‐class , concierge , discerning , exclusive and style .Allthat,onjustthehomepage;aquintessentialdiscursiveproduction,renderingputativelymaterial,physicalexperiencessemioticandexotic.Butwordsarenotmerelyorsimply symbolic; they are also materializing agents. )ndeed, word‐things like elite andprivilege circulatefarbeyondofconfinesofsuper‐elitestatus/spaces–floatingsignifierswhich, when tied down and emplaced, performatively declare someone, something orsomewheresuperior,distinctiveand/orexclusive cf.ThurlowandJaworskiforthcoming ,like thepacketof tissueshere. )alsohaveexamplesofplumbingcompanies,nailsalons,packetsofcoffeeandjarsofpickles. )nthiscase,elitistmeaningpotentialsareexpressednotonlyintheword,butthroughthe calligraphic italicizationoftheword,andthroughtheappearance of elevated or embossed lettering i.e. the shaded edges .Whatwewitness,therefore,aresemioticactionstakingplaceinmobilespaces e.g.onaeroplanes ,butalsosemiotic tokens themselves on themove: genres, discourses, styles, singlewords. )n theprocess, elite status is normalized acrossmore far‐reaching terrains and for ever‐widerdemographics.No social semiotic analysis is complete without its critical‐with‐a‐capital‐C denouement. )n thisregard,)wanttoendbyofferingtothreelooselysketchedobservationsorinterpretations,which)draw from some of our existing statements about the luxury landscapes of super‐elite mobilityspecifically,cf.ThurlowandJaworski ,forthcoming .What)hopetohaveillustratedishowtherhetoricsofelitestatus–likethediscoursesofluxury–arenowadaysubiquitousandexpressedinthemostfastidiousways.Theyarealsofullymultimodaland,)believe,strategicallyso.Allofwhichspeaksofawiderpolitical‐economyandadeeperculturalpolitics.)tispreciselyintheirordinariness,smallnessandbanality–asmuchastheirubiquity–thatthefourrandomobjectsaboveaccruetheirrealideologicalforce. What has been presented here is on‐the‐ground, empirical evidence of a discursiveformation intheFoucauldiansense atworkacrossmultiplesites,institutions,genres,modesandresources. My four objects are throw‐away manifestations of a much bigger story about thereordering of contemporary class structures. These are the kinds of micro‐level nano‐level? enactmentsofapost‐classideologywhichnormalizesandrationalizeselitestatus e.g.throughthewide‐spread use of the word elite and which propagates a sense of privilege as somehowdomesticated and democratised. All these back‐dropped visions luxury wall‐paper and banalmaterializationsnormalizetheverynotionofluxuryitself.Wemustallofusbeconstantlytaughttorecognizeluxury–toknowwhatitlookslike–butwemustalsobetaughttodesireitinthefirstplace.Andjustastherhetoricsofluxuryslideeasilyacrossspaces,thesensuousstuffofstatusgetsquicklyunderourskin.Regardlessofourpowerorwealth. Alongtheselines,andinkeepingwiththespiritofsocialsemiotics,)mustdeclaresomethingofmyownpositionality.)naresponsepaperforaneditedcollectiononelitemobility,AndrewSayeroffersaprettyemphatic,hard‐hittingcritiqueofscholarsworkinginthefieldofelitestudies

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whosimplyappeartocelebrateratherthanproperlycritiquetheprivilegedworldsofwhichtheywrite.Oneway,)believe,toretainacriticaledgeistoremainself‐critical,neverlosingsightofmyowncomplicityinitall–torecognizethatpowerandprivilegeareneverneatlybounded,out‐therephenomena.)ndoingmyownresearchonsuper‐elitemobilties,)havealwaysknownthatwhatreallyinterestedmewastryingtounderstandmycomplicit andoftenquiteexplicit role.)twas,afterall,mewhocollectedtheobjectsofmyanalysishere;itwasmewhogottobeinsidea ‐square‐metresuite attheBurjalArab fieldworkornot ,andmewhosecuredanupgradeoffthebackofmyownfrequent flying. We are all of us targets for aspirational luxury marketing and we are all of uspositionedbyelitistdiscourses.Theyarehardtoresist;theyarecertainlyimpossibletoavoid. Luxury landscapes are awash with stuff – aural, visual, spatial, material and otherwise.)ndeed,averyfineline–ifany–istobedrawnbetweenthevisualandtheverbal,thesymbolicandtheiconic,thematerialandtheimmaterial,thefunctionalandtheaesthetic.Andthedesignersandarchitectsofsuper‐eliteluxurylandscapesarenotjustaestheticians–technicalwizardsatmakingbanalstuffappearexceptional,makingcraplookfabulous;theyarealsosynaestheticians,appealingconstantly,strategicallyandexpertlytowhatGuntherKress seesasourinnatepotentialforshiftingbetweenandreadingacrossdifferentsemioticmodes.Tohearcolours,toseesoundsandtotastewords.Experiencing,forexample,languageasstuff,spaceassound,orbodiesasimages–andgeneratingnew/different socialmeanings out of these transmodal combinations.(erein, lies thedeep appeal and ideological effectiveness of super‐elite/luxury discourse: they appeal to, togglebetween and apparently collapsemodalitieswhichwe scholars otherwise dogmatically insist onkeepingapart.Assuch,itbecomesimpossiblesometimestoknowwherethingsbeginandend.3Bibliography

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Meaning.Maryland.UniversityParkPress, .Jaworski, Adam, and Crispin Thurlow. )ntroducing Semiotic Landscapes. Semiotic Landscapes:Language,Image,Space.Ed.AdamJaworskiandCrispinThurlow.London:Continuum, .– Jewitt,Carey,ed.TheRoutledgeHandbookofMultimodalAnalysis[ nded.].London:Routledge, .Judd,DeaneB.,andG“nterWyszecki.ColorinBusiness,ScienceandIndustry.WileySeriesinPureand

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Kress, Gunther.Multimodality:A Social SemioticApproach toContemporaryCommunication. NewYork:Routledge, .Kress,Gunther.BeforeWriting:RethinkingPathstoLiteracy.London:Routledge, .Kress, Gunther, andTheo vanLeeuwen.Reading Images:TheGrammarofVisualDesign. London:Routledge, .Kress,Gunther,andTheovanLeeuwen.MultimodalDiscourse:TheModesandMediaofContemporary

Communication.London:Arnold, .Labov,William.LanguageintheInnerCity.Philadelphia:UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress, .Lefebvre,(enri.TheProductionofSpace.Oxford:BasilBlackwell, [ ].Machin,David.What)sMultimodalCriticalDiscourseStudies? CriticalDiscourseStudies . :– .Norris,Sigrid,andRodneyJones,eds.DiscourseinAction:IntroducingMediatedDiscourseAnalysis.NewYork:Taylor&Francis, .Sayer,Andrew. Postscript:EliteMobilitiesandCritique. EliteMobilities.Ed.ThomasBirtchnellandJavierCaletrío.London:Routledge, . – .Shankar, Shalini, and Jillian Cavanaugh. Language and Materiality in Global Capitalism. AnnualReviewofAnthropology : – .Thrift,Nigel.Non‐representationalTheory:Space,Politics,Affect.London:Routledge, .Thurlow,Crispin, andGiorgiaAiello. NationalPride,GlobalCapital:ASocialSemioticAnalysisofTransnationalVisualBranding in theAirline )ndustry. VisualCommunication . :– .Thurlow,Crispin,andAdamJaworski. TheAlchemyoftheupwardlyMobile:SymbolicCapitalandthe Stylization of Elites in Frequent‐flyer Programmes. Discourse& Society . :– .Thurlow,Crispin,andAdamJaworski. Silence )sGolden:Linguascaping,Anti‐communicationandSocial Exclusion in Luxury Tourism Representations. Semiotic Landscapes: Image, Text,Space.Ed.AdamJaworskiandCrispinThurlow.London:Continuum, . – .Thurlow,Crispin,andAdamJaworski. Visible‐)nvisible:TheSocialSemioticsofLabour inLuxuryTourism. EliteMobilities. Ed. Thomas Birtchnell and Javier Caletrío. London: Routledge,. – .Thurlow, Crispin, and Adam Jaworski. Elite Mobilities: The Semiotic Landscapes of Luxury andPrivilege. SocialSemiotics . : – .Thurlow,Crispin,andAdamJaworksi. Word‐thingsandSpace‐sounds:TheSynaestheticRhetoricsofLuxury. LanguageandMateriality:EthnographicalandTheoreticalExplorations.Ed.JillianR.CavanaughandShaliniShankar.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,forthcoming.VanLeeuwen,Theo.IntroducingSocialSemiotics.London:Routledge, .

3.2FurtherReadingJaworski,Adam,andCrispinThurlow,eds.SemioticLandscapes:Language, Image,Space. London:Continuum, .

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Jewitt,Carey,ed.TheRoutledgeHandbookofMultimodalAnalysis[ nded.].London:Routledge, .Machin,David.IntroductiontoMultimodalAnalysis.London:Bloomsbury, .Scollon, Ron and SuzieW. Scollon.Discourses inPlace: Language in theMaterialWorld. London:Routledge, .SocialSemiotics Routledge VanLeeuwen,Theo.IntroducingSocialSemiotics.London:Routledge, .VisualCommunication Sage Endnotes. Aworking definition ofmode is offered by Gunther Kress , as a socially andculturally shaped resource for making meaning. )mage, writing, layout, speech, movingimagesareexamplesofdifferentmodes. . These definitions for medium , mode and meaning are drawn from Kress and vanLeeuwen , , , .. Myfourartefactscome,respectively,fromArgentina thetissues ,thenow‐defunctBritishairlineeos pajamas ,andthebusiness‐classservicesoftheUAE sEmiratesairline pepperpot andtheSpanishairlineIberia napkin .. TheBurjalArab smost‐luxurious‐hotel‐in‐the‐worldclaimisprominentlydisplayedonitswebsiteathttp://www.jumeirah.com/en/hotels‐resorts/dubai/burj‐al‐arab/. Thisandoneotherrandomlyselectedinstanceofcommentaryaretobefoundonlinehere:http://www.ausbt.com.au/garuda‐indonesia‐business‐class‐fully‐flat‐bed‐superb‐servicehttp://www.navjot‐singh.com/airline‐pr/emirates‐airline‐bangkok‐to‐dubai‐business‐class‐on‐the‐boeing‐ ‐