This paper examines different modes of non-verbal communication deployed as discursive strategies/safety protocol measures during the Covid-19 crisis to warn people against contracting the disease and to contain its s...This paper examines different modes of non-verbal communication deployed as discursive strategies/safety protocol measures during the Covid-19 crisis to warn people against contracting the disease and to contain its spread.The data,which consist of forty purposively selected images used by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and remodified logos of some international brands shared on the social media space—NCDC website,Facebook and Twitter,are divided into four broad categories and analysed qualitatively using Kress and van Leeuwen’s Social Semiotic framework to examine their representational meanings.These non-verbal modes of communication are used as representations to create awareness about the pandemic,depict its manifestations(signs and symptoms)and educate people on the important guidelines to observe in order to prevent contracting the infectious disease.Thus,different semiotic resources are deployed as meaning-making processes to interrogate these thematic categories.The study concludes that the choice of the non-verbal modes/images are intentional and strategic as their specificity projects the intended meaning of the message,enhances wider reach and enables effective communication of proper management of the health crisis.展开更多
文摘This paper examines different modes of non-verbal communication deployed as discursive strategies/safety protocol measures during the Covid-19 crisis to warn people against contracting the disease and to contain its spread.The data,which consist of forty purposively selected images used by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and remodified logos of some international brands shared on the social media space—NCDC website,Facebook and Twitter,are divided into four broad categories and analysed qualitatively using Kress and van Leeuwen’s Social Semiotic framework to examine their representational meanings.These non-verbal modes of communication are used as representations to create awareness about the pandemic,depict its manifestations(signs and symptoms)and educate people on the important guidelines to observe in order to prevent contracting the infectious disease.Thus,different semiotic resources are deployed as meaning-making processes to interrogate these thematic categories.The study concludes that the choice of the non-verbal modes/images are intentional and strategic as their specificity projects the intended meaning of the message,enhances wider reach and enables effective communication of proper management of the health crisis.
