The research line Multimodal Rhetoric examines how various modes of communication (language, image, and sound) are strategically combined to engage and persuade audiences. As multimodal message design becomes increasingly central to public discourse, it is crucial to understand how rhetorical strategies function across diverse modes and platforms. We focus on how texts, images, and videos integrate verbal, visual, and auditory elements to create meaning and influence perception.
The research line Adpositional Rhetoric (AdRhet) aims to provide a robust formalization of the linguistic and pragmatic aspects of persuasive discourse within a constructivist representation framework that employs so-called ‘adpositional trees’. The results can be used as input for empirical research and for implementation in argumentation technology.
Research into the Philosophy of Argument is aimed at providing historically and empirically informed accounts of the various theoretical concepts relevant to the study of argumentation (e.g. ‘argumentation structure’, ‘argument type’, ‘stock issue’, and ‘fallacy’) and at exploring modifications and extensions of traditional definitions of argument (e.g. to metaphor, narration, visual and multimodal argumentation, and polylogue).
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