Inexplicable in the last resort: A critique of Theo van Leeuwen's identification of typography as a 'mode'

摘要

This paper challenges the theoretical foundations of van Leeuwen's claim that typography is capable of operating as a semiotic mode, similar to language. Van Leeuwen performs a "distinctive feature analysis" identifying two ways, connotation and experiential metaphor, in which meaning can emerge in typography. The analysis rests on a limited range of interpretations which then narrow each other's meaning potentials in a manner which would allow a composite meaning to emerge. I show that there are other ways meaning can emerge and such additional interpretations destabilise van Leeuwen's model to a sufficient extent to prevent a coherent meaning from emerging.