VISUAL LANGUAGE OF MULTIMODAL TEXT: PRAGMATICS OF COLOR (The Russian-Ukrainian War in the Covers of World Publications)

Abstract

The given article raises issues closely related to interrelationships, interdependence and pragmatics of colors in multimodal texts. Magazine covers were selected for analysis due to the lack of a comprehensive study of the cover as a multimodal text in both domestic and global multimodality. The purpose of the article is to clarify and describe the pragmatic potential of color as a key component of the visual-graphic text for expressing the information encoded in it. To achieve the goal, it was necessary to find out the essence, specificity and functions of the cover as a multimodal text consisting of heterogeneous components; to identify the potential of color for symbolization of information and the process of decoding meanings presented on the cover with the usage of color; to analyze the peculiarity of the embodiment of the main realities within Russian-Ukrainian war on the cover by means of color and their connection with pragmatic tasks. The current study was conducted on the material of the world publications covers, including “Time”, “The Economist”, “Society”, “Elle”, “Vanity Fair”, “Womankind”, “The Guardian Weekly”, “The New Yorker”, “The Washington Examiner”, “Tygodnik Powszechny”, etc., which illustrate the urgent problems of modern society and realities of the Russian-Ukrainian war as well. The study confirmed that the main function of the сover is the reader’s attraction and increasing numbers of possible and potential sales. In addition to attracting the attention of the potential reader, the cover represents key information depicted on it by means of heterogeneous elements, that is, various semiotic codes. A magazine cover can be interpreted as a multimodal text, particularly complex of verbal and visual components, which have a strong pragmatic potential. The main visual characteristics of the cover include color, layout, prominence, framing, and photographs. Constitutive elements interact with each other and form a single semantic and informational coherence and cohesion. Color plays an important role in coding and presenting information on a magazine cover. Based on the dominance of a certain color range, the surveyed covers were ranked into several groups: 1) сovers that are done in colors of the Ukrainian flag; 2) сovers made in a crimson-grey color paradigm; 3) сovers made in a red color paradigm; 4) сovers with a black background. It was found that each of the distinguished groups contains coded information on events that illustrate the course of the war on the territory of Ukraine and the reaction of the world community to it. By decoding the visually and verbally presented meanings, the key ones were revealed, including grief, death, sadness, blood, despair, confusion. Instead, light colors and yellow-blue splashes symbolize hope for peace. By means of different semiotic codes, on the one hand, the support of the Ukrainian people is represented, and on the other hand, the condemnation of Russian aggression, the inhumane behavior of the Russian occupiers on the temporarily occupied territories and the total conviction of the current Russia leader are depicted. According to the results of the conducted research, despite the peculiarity of the text space and the form of verbal part presented in covers, it is the context and its integrity that is the text’s key aspect. This is quite explainable by the fact that the meaning of the fragment is clear and acceptable to the reader only in the case of inseparable perception of both verbal and non-verbal means in a multimodal text, in particular in covers. Color as an essential element of the visual component on covers makes it possible to perceive and interpret the key idea embedded in the analyzed multimodal samples. Verbal framing can be considered additional and such that it enhances the overall pragmatic effect.