Our staff
Dr Arianna Maiorani
Tel: +44 01509 222927
Role: Lecturer in English
Email: A.Maiorani@lboro.ac.uk
Room QQ007a, John Hardie, East Park
Publications
My main interests are Systemic Functional Linguistics and Multimodality. I conceive Linguistics not as a science per se but as a key to understanding how we make sense of the world we live in and a powerful tool for investigations from an interdisciplinary perspective. My research has developed into two branches: as a systemic functional linguist, I use the functional framework of analysis to study literary texts that were written in critical historical and cultural conditions, such as prose written by writers who lived in British and French imperial colonies in India and Africa. My aim is to understand how important social and cultural issues are reflected in the language of texts written as fiction in order to highlight how ideology is implicit in the style of an author and how also a literary text can be studied not only for its stylistic features but also as a social and cultural document.
The other branch of my research is concerned with Multimodality, namely the theory that studies communication realised through the use of different semiotic systems (verbal, visual, sound, etc.). Using the functional framework as a point of departure, I study communication in internet environments (websites, forums, personal webpages, MMORPG) to understand how and why the internet has become a major channel of communication in contemporary society. My main interest is internet phenomena originated by cultural and social events occurring in the 'outside' world, and how our experience of Internet environments and communication has changed our way of perceiving multimodal texts like films.
As an ex-professional ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer, I am also interested in researching the semiotic and aesthetic relationship between movement and space, both at a theoretical level and at a practical level by working with Drama colleagues and students.
My research interests are reflected in my teaching: I always approach language as a primary means of communication connected to all other semiotic systems forming what is usually defined as a 'culture'. Feedback from students and class discussion has always proved to be extremely useful in guiding my research through the 'web' of communication. This year, in the first semester I will teach Introduction to Language (as tutor), Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics, and Movement and Text in the first semester, and I will also co-teach Virtual Narratives on the MA programme. In the second semester I will teach Language in Context (one group) and Introduction to Multimodality.