While the multimodal expansion of argumentation studies dates from the mid-90s, that of rhetorical studies dates from at least two decades earlier. In both cases, the pioneering studies were met with criticisms but these have been stronger within the community of argumentation scholars. Theoretical frameworks developed to study argumentation have been based on verbal language or

have exclusively been applied to instances of verbal communication, abstracting from the variety of semiotic modes that come into play when parties argue in a court, for example, or when texts are written in printed ads or spoken in video commercials. Nevertheless, some frameworks more than others provide theoretical concepts and analytical categories that can be applied to other instances of communication beyond the verbal.

This presentation will trace the expansion of argumentation studies from a language-centred field of study to a multimodal-oriented endeavour, examining the implications and challenges posed by this development. I will first discuss the historical context of argumentation studies, highlighting the traditional focus on language as the primary medium for constructing and conveying arguments and show that in some approaches there is room for addressing multimodal phenomena anyway. I will then discuss the various perspectives that have sought to analyse instances of multimodal argumentation, including logical, dialectical, and critical approaches and assess how they address the challenges of analyzing and evaluating arguments that unfold across multiple semiotic modes. The goal is to discuss how insights from these perspectives can be combined to provide a more comprehensive understanding of this complex phenomenon rather than to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the individual approaches. Finally, I will discuss what the consequences of the multimodal expansion of argumentation studies may be for the field and what argumentation studies may contribute to the study of multimodality as such. To illustrate some of my points, I will revisit some examples that have already been analysed in the literature and introduce some others that may pose more challenges and thereby require the concerted attention from a variety of perspectives, beyond rhetoric and argumentation.

Assimakis Tseronis is Associate Professor in the section of Rhetoric at Örebro University (Sweden). His research interests fall under the areas of discourse analysis, multimodal rhetorical argumentation, and pragmatics. He has published on both the verbal and visual dimensions of argumentative communication, focusing on argumentation markers and the expression of stance and disagreement in deliberations, as well as on the argumentative reconstruction of printed advertisements, magazine covers, front pages, and documentary films. Among his publications are the volume Multimodal Argumentation and Rhetoric in Media Genres, co-edited with Charles Forceville (2017, John Benjamins), the special issue “Pragmatic Insights for Multimodal Argumentation”, co-edited with Chiara Pollaroli (2018, International Review of Pragmatics), and the special issue “Multimodal rhetoric and argumentation: Applications – genres – methods”, co-edited with Hartmut Stöckl (to appear in 2024, Journal of Argumentation in Context).