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26th June 2026: Ryoko Sasamoto

“Resemblance and Multimodality”

In this presentation, I will examine the role of resemblance in multimodal communication from the perspective of relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson 1986/1995). Rather than treating resemblance in visual communication as a straightforward visual match between an image and what it represents, I will argue that resemblance is used to present evidence that helps the audience infer the communicator’s intentions. The focus is on examples such as visual metaphor and satirical or caricatural imagery, where resemblance is selective. In these cases, only certain perceptual features such as shape, texture, movement, spatial arrangement, or material behaviour are highlighted. These similarities guide the audience toward particular interpretations, whether the tone is serious, playful, critical, or humorous. For instance, presenting the Earth as melting ice cream relies on roundness and visible melting to encourage thoughts of vulnerability, heat, and urgency. A caricature of a politician may use exaggerated proportions or omitted detail to prompt thoughts related to attitude, ridicule, or evaluation. Resemblance in these examples provides perceptual cues that guide interpretation, yet it does not determine a single, determinate interpretation and leaves room for variation and weakly communicated assumptions, giving rise to impressions. On this view, perceptual resemblance is not a passive visual property but a pragmatic resource. I will, therefore, discuss in this presentation what it means to recognise one thing as perceptually resembling another, and how this recognition contributes to multimodal communication under relevance-driven expectations.

References

Sperber, D. & D. Wilson (1986/1995). Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford: Blackwells.

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