Is a picture worth a thousand words?: Effects of foregrounded multimodal and narrative features

Abstract

Multimodal novels rely extensively on the interaction of verbal and visual codes to construct meaning. It has been theorized that multimodal features of the multimodal novel shape our reading-induced imagery and our emotional reactions while reading. However, there is a lack of empirical testing behind existing approaches to multimodal novels. The current study aims to empirically investigate the effects of foregrounded multimodal features and foregrounded narrative features on reading-induced imagery and readers’ emotional reactions in the reading process of multimodal novels. The results disconfirmed that differences between unusual and usual mind styles were traceable to multimodal vs. monomodal versions of these selected narratives. Reading about unusual mindstyles, instead of multimodal features, is suggested to have effects on changing perception of self and others, and thus on transformative reading.