Perception of Violence in Multimodal Text: Cross-Disciplinary Approach

Maria B. Voroshilova; Kirill V. Zlokazov; Maria V. Plotnikova

Media Safety & Security | https://doi.org/10.46539/gmd.v6i2.457

Perception of Violence in Multimodal Text: Cross-Disciplinary Approach

Maria B. Voroshilova1 (a), Kirill V. Zlokazov (b) & Maria V. Plotnikova2 (a)

(a) Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin. Ekaterinburg, Russia

(b) St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Email: zkirvit[at]yandex.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0664-8444

Received: 20 November 2023 | Revised: 26 January 2024 | Accepted: 4 February 2024

The article deals with the linguistic and psychological concepts explaining the perception of multimodal texts that imply information about violence. The importance of the subject is verified by the task of countering the spread of ideologies of violence, extremism, and terrorism in Internet communication. The multimodal text is considered a popular means of propagating radical ideas relating to incitement to social discord. The absence of complex models explaining the transmission of violence through multimodal texts is observed. It is shown that linguistic and psychological concepts can be relevant resources for building such a model. The purpose of the article is to generalize concepts in the form of intra- and extralinguistic factors that determine the perception of information about violence in a multimodal text. The generalization of cognitive linguistic theories into the group of intralinguistic factors is complemented by the conclusion that the semantic structure of a multimodal text is formed by visual, sign, and verbal coding systems; the perception of information about violence is determined by the typicality of linguistic means and the presence of logical and semantic links between the elements of a multimodal text. The conclusion is made about the influence of aggressiveness, personal attitude toward violence, and the experience of using violence on the perception of multimodal information about violence by the reader. The article may be interesting to linguists, psychologists, and a wide range of researchers in the field of humanities and humanities-related social sciences.

Keywords

Multimodal Text; Multimodality; Violence; Extremism; Structural Semiotics; Cognitive Linguistics; Psycholinguistics; Eye-tracking; Reader Personality; Perception

Abstract

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons "Attribution" 4.0 International License

1 Email: shinkari[at]mail.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7578-352X

2 Email: plotnikova_mary[at]mail.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9391-9539

Восприятие насилия в поликодовом тексте: междисциплинарный подход

Ворошилова Мария Борисовна1 (a), Злоказов Кирилл Витальевич (b), Плотникова Мария Вячеславовна2 (a)

(a) Уральский федеральный университет имени первого Президента России Б.Н. Ельцина. Екатеринбург, Россия

(b) Санкт-Петербургский университет Министерства внутренних дел Российской Федерации. Санкт-Петербург, Россия. Email: zkirvit[at]yandex.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0664-8444

Рукопись получена: 20 ноября 2023 | Пересмотрена: 26 января 2024 | Принята: 4 февраля 2024

Аннотация

В статье обсуждаются лингвистические и психологические концепции, объясняющие восприятие поликодовых текстов, содержащих информацию о насилии. Актуальность темы обосновывается задачами противодействия распространению идеологии насилия, экстремизма и терроризма в интернет-коммуникации. Поликодовый текст представляется в качестве популярного средства пропаганды радикальных идей, призывов к социальной вражде. Отмечается отсутствие комплексных моделей, объясняющих трансляцию насилия посредством поликодовых текстов. Показано, что лингвистические и психологические концепции могут выступить релевантными ресурсами для построения подобной модели. Целью статьи выступает обобщение концепций в виде интра- и экстралингвистических факторов, обусловливающих восприятие информации о насилии в поликодовом тексте. Обобщение когнитивно-лингвистических теорий в группу интралингвистических факторов сопровождается выводами о том, что семантическая структура поликодового текста образована визуальной, знаковой и вербальной системами кодирования; рецепция информации о насилии определяется типичностью языковых средств, наличием логико-семантичсеких связей между элементами поликодового текста. Делается вывод о влиянии агрессивности, личностного отношения к насилию и опыта применения насилия читателем на восприятие поликодовой информации о насилии. Статья может представлять интерес для лингвистов, психологов, специалистов в области лингвистической экспертизы, а также для широкого круга исследователей в области гуманитарных и смежных наук.

Ключевые слова

поликодовый текст; мультимодальность; насилие; экстремизм; структурная семиотика; когнитивная лингвистика; психолингвистика; айтрекинг; личность читателя; восприятие

Это произведение доступно по лицензии Creative Commons "Attribution" («Атрибуция») 4.0 Всемирная

1 Email: shinkari[at]mail.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7578-352X

2 Email: plotnikova_mary[at]mail.ru ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9391-9539

Introduction

The relevance of the article is substantiated by the important social task to avoid legitimizing violence for political and ethnic nationalism purposes. The development of Internet communication technologies contributes to spreading the ideology of violence among different social groups, especially among the younger generation. Incitement to intolerance, enmity, and discord brings results, stimulates radicalism and extremism, encourages minors and young people to murder relatives, classmates, and teachers, and to commit acts of terrorism. Nevertheless, understanding the motivations behind these acts of violence can illuminate the psychological processes operating in the minds of young individuals (Aliev, 2023). Effective prevention of violence by identifying and blocking such information in the Internet communication system, in our opinion, depends on understanding the way it is transmitted and its impact on the aggressive behavior of the reader. Modern communication is largely decentralized and anonymized. Therefore, it requires the involvement of scientific knowledge and methods to counteract the propaganda of violence.

Multimodal text is currently a fairly popular way of transmitting violence over the Internet. Its main forms are static images that combine pictorial (figurative) and verbal parts, as well as dynamic images that combine video sequences with sign and auditory comments. The use of several types of information coding, such as sign, symbolic, and figurative data, distinguishes multimodal texts from other means of information transmission. Due to such hybridization, multimodal texts have a greater potential to influence the reader than verbal texts or video fragments (Sonin, 2005).

Studies of the perception of multimodal texts have been carried out by Russian and foreign scientists over the past decades (Sergeeva & Uvarova, 2014). The use of novel research methods (such as eye-tracking) allows the authors to study the perception of multimodal violence inciting texts not only in the intralinguistic but also in the extralinguistic aspects, such as neurophysiological (Laue et al., 2018), neurocognitive (Lin et al., 2016), etc. Due to the registration of the reader's eye movements, such patterns of perception of multimodal information as the sequence of its viewing of the visual and verbal parts of the text and focusing on the elements of the text are revealed.

The ideas about the mechanisms of processing multimodal information by the reader are expanding (Gorbacheva, Puchkova & Osadchij, 2018), and the influence of the reader's personal knowledge, their social ideas, and their psycho-emotional state on the perception of information is determined. The understanding of the role of linguistic means in the perception of multimodal information has deepened.

In particular, the issues of the influence of the text encoding (sign, symbolic, or figurative) on the perception of information (Vashunina, 2009), the reasons

for transferring attention to different elements of the text (Sonin, 2006), the distortion of the meanings of multimodal text influenced by the experience of the reader (Zlokazov & Lipnitsky, 2018) and others experimentally recorded facts of perception.

In general, despite the advances in knowledge, there is no single concept of the perception of multimodal texts that activate social violence for now. It seems that there is some delay in comprehending the new information obtained in experimental studies. The integration of knowledge about the perception of multimodal information acquired by different sciences may be a possible solution to the problem. Relevant resources for generalizing experimental facts and constructing a concept, according to the authors, are linguistic and psychological theories of the perception of multimodal information about violence. Referring to the theories, the authors of the article attempt to take inventory of knowledge about the perception of multimodal texts.

The structure of the presentation of the material in the article conforms to the problem to be solved. First, linguistic and psychological ideas about the perception of multimodal information about violence are discussed, second, they are integrated in the form of conclusions.

Methods

The purpose of the article is to summarize the linguistic and psychological concepts that describe the perception of multimodal texts implying information about violence.

The objectives of the study are to describe semiotic and psychological approaches to the perception of multimodal information and synthesize the possibilities of these approaches to study the processes of perception of multimodal texts.

The authors seek to enrich the intralinguistic understanding of the perception of a multimodal violence-inciting text through extralinguistic factors associated with the personality of the reader.

It should be clarified that the article does not consider the cognitive concepts of information perception, since the authors focus on the personal aspect of the perception of violence. The appeal to the perceptual and cognitive aspects of perception is associated with the specifics of the representation of violence, explained by the personality traits of the reader.

First, the authors consider the description of linguistic and psychological concepts of perception and interpretation of information about violence. Among the different branches of linguistics (comparative, communicative, structural, and others), the theoretical and methodological resources of cognitive linguistics often provide the research basis for the perception of multimodal texts.

The cognitive approach is based on the assumption of a single semantic basis for the sign, symbolic, and figurative systems of a multimodal text. The comprehension of the significance of a multimodal text is facilitated by a complex array of

mental and mnemonic (remembering) operations that pertain to the linguistic units of the text. These operations include analytical-synthetic transformations of the perceived information, which enable the identification of its specific linguistic units, as well as categorization and conceptualization operations, which ensure the correlation of the received information with pre-existing concepts about it. Indeed, these intellectual transformations are mediated by memory, since not only linguistic but also non-linguistic knowledge of the reader is used in decoding meanings: their awareness, personal life experience, etc.

Characterizing the scope of the concept of violence, the authors should note its monosemy (clarity). The denotation of the concept is determined by using force to impose certain actions (Gazizulina, 2012). The concept of violence has a rather "dense" core, since the use of force is evident both from the conceptual and the figurative and axiological sides (Karasik, 2004). The vocabulary of violence is represented in communication by a complex of words denoting specific manifestations of violence associated with their sociocultural interpretation. The lexical-semantic construction of the concept of "violence" presupposes the presence of the semantic roles of "agent" and "patient", as well as "instrument", "situation", "action," and "result" (Gazizulina, 2013). A specific feature of the vocabulary of violence is the use of verbs to describe a violent act.

Since nowadays, multimodal texts are often used to promulgate radical ideologies, information about violence is often presented implicitly: through metonymy, metaphor, or the substitution of vocabulary with symbols or visual images. Therefore, the perception of the concept of violence depends on the homogeneity of the semantics of the language systems of a multimodal text. Within the framework of the research, the authors consider different approaches to the analysis of multimodal texts that model these relations in structural and multimodal semiotic aspects.

Results

Structural semiotic approach

The structural semiotic approach (Yakin& Totu, 2014) to interpretation focuses on the study of how the sign system of the text affects the perception of information about violence. In particular, R. Barthes, distinguishing between the denotative (basic or primary) meaning and the connotative (secondary) meaning of signs, shows how strongly the construction of the meaning of a text depends on the reader's acquaintance with the connotation of the sign. The application of the terms of this approach to multimodal texts promoting the ideology of violence is most revealing. Please refer to Figures 1-2.

Figure 1. A fragment of a propaganda poster of a radical neo-Nazi Internet community operating in the United States

Figure 2. A fragment of a poster of a right-wing radical organization operating in the USA and Great Britain

(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/conten (https://funnylax.com/meme/revolt-against-

t/v1/54d79f88e4b0db3478a04405/1594147830 clown-world-memes-a9829949d50d6759) 426-2PHX6HFHV7FZVJ89CJ1G/image-asset.png?format=300w)

Understanding the information (Figure 1) is only possible when referring to specific elements: the image of the skull and bones, placed in the upper left corner of the image and partially hidden. The image is similar to the symbolism of one of the key army units in the structure of the Wehrmacht in the period 1939-1945, the Panzer Division Waffen-SS "Death's Head". Recently, this symbol has been popular in Russian and foreign neo-Nazi communities. Thanks to the understanding of the meaning of the symbol, the ideological agenda of the "Feuerkrieg" group — racism and antisemitism — is clarified. The verbal opposition "join or die" emphasizes the radical nature of the worldview of this community.

To understand the meaning of Figure 2, the reader should be informed of the "clown world" metaphor used in right-wing radical discourse (Holt, 2019). The metaphor reflects criticism of the US government by radical nationalist communities. It is believed that the country is ruled by clowns — incompetent and irrational people who gain popularity by showing off. The correlation of the meaning of the metaphor with the incitement to riot ("revolt against") justifies the necessity to stand against absurd and senseless policies. The images of armed people wearing masks serve two purposes: they illustrate the metaphor of the "world of clowns" and emphasize the radical character of the call by displaying weapons.

Multimodal semiotic approach

The limitations of the structural approach are partly overcome by the multimodal semiotic approach. The difference lies in the study of intratextual links between the elements of a multimodal text and the study of the extra-linguistic effects of the text on the reader's presentation (Halliday, 1978). Regardless of the coding system, multimodal text elements have three types of functions: a) to construct the social meaning of information (experimental function); b) to form the reader's attitude toward this information (interpersonal function); c) to precise the meaning of each element of the text in relation to other elements (textual function).

The experimental function of information in the text complements the reader's concepts about the social world by introducing something new, previously unknown, or amplifying the ideas if the reader has already had any information about a situation or event. The information obtained through the interpersonal function stimulates the reader's subjective, "personal" attitude toward the point of the story and forms a model of the reader's social behavior based on this information. Finally, the information associated with the text component conforms its meaning to other multimodal text components, allowing the reader to relate the meanings to each other. Using Figure 3, the authors demonstrate a functional-semantic method for analyzing a multimodal violence inciting text in a specific context. The structure of the multimodal text under consideration is formed by the following aspects:

1) Verbal component. The statement "Now is time for answer the call", "Attack [the indication of the target was concealed by the authors of the article] with bomb and sword".

• The experimental aspect consists of the following: the information contains reference to the approach of the response time in the form of a strike (an attack) on particular people with the use of weapons.

• The interpersonal aspect consists of the following: the information defines the category of individuals subjected to the attack and also indicates those who have to carry it out.

• The textual aspect consists of the following: the information focuses on the description of the model of violent behavior, the victim of violence, the means of its application, and the time indicated.

2) Nonverbal component. The image of a building, a pillar clock, and a profile of a person in a black mask.

• The experimental aspect consists of the following: the image visualizes the time (the evening, judging by the clock); the image of the attacker (a man in a mask) specifies the place of the attack (the Flatiron Building, New York City, USA); and the result (in the form of blood).

• The interpersonal aspect consists of the following: the image constructs an anonymous model of the attacker's behavior (partial dissolution of the image of a person in the black background of the poster), precises the category of victims by demonstrating the place of the attack and anticipates the result of the attack by showing a blood stain.

• The textual aspect consists of the following: compositionally, the image occupies the entire body of the multimodal text; it is a graphic basis for the inscription; signs of location (recognizable building), time (dark background, clock), as well as the result (blood) are visually marked.

Fig. 3. A fragment of a poster of an extremist organization that is outlawed in Russia for calling for violence (https://www.hstoday.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Screen-Shot-2019-08-20-at-

10.23.38-AM-339x420.png)

Note: Under the legislation of the Russian Federation, the indications of the target and method of attack, as well as the symbols of a forbidden organization, have been removed from the fragment.

It is important to note that the multimodal approach focuses on the logical-semantic relationships of elements in a multimodal text (Norris, 2004). Interpretation of the meaning of the text therefore depends on several types of such relations: a) intratextual (between information presented in different codes), where information is brought into a coherent and consistent form; b) semantic (between the meaning of information and the interpretations of the reader), whereby the reader interprets the meaning of the text; c) social (between the social value of information and its evaluation by the reader), constructing a personal attitude to the event. The semantic analysis of Figure 3 shows that the verbal and figurative parts of the image relate to each other by association, revealing the meaning of information in the text through complementarity.

Psychological concepts

This part of the article examines the evolutionary, behavioral, and socio-cogni-tive concepts of perceiving information about violence. They are used to explaining attitudes towards the topic of violence in general through images and descriptions of patterns of violent behavior. The analyzed concepts offer objective explanations of how the reader perceives, explains, and disposes of information about violence. Since each of them currently has sufficient empirical evidence, they should be considered parallel and competing.

Evolutionary concept of violence: people's attention to violence is explained by its effectiveness in satisfying needs, including to ensure their own safety, control over the situation, obtain resources for life, and get ahead of rivals in the competition (Bass, 1998).

Information about patterns of violent behavior, means of violence, and ways of using them is valuable; therefore, focusing on such information is caused not only by rational but also irrational factors. Research into the perception of violence in videos shows that the semantics of violence are perceived in the terms of activity and strength. Under the influence of what was watched, viewers experience psycho-emotional agitation, assess themselves as more energetic and wealthier, and get rid of depressive manifestations such as self-accusation and self-dissatisfaction (Zubakin, 2012).

Analysis of the effects caused by violent computer games demonstrates that observing virtual violence stimulates the player's readiness for violence in real life, increasing their degree of approval of violent actions (Zumbach, Seitz& Bluemke, 2015). An individually specific expression of the preference for violence is the level of an individual's aggressiveness (Wrangham, 2017). Aggressiveness is manifested in the preference for aggression over other models of social behavior. Measuring the level of aggressiveness by eye-tracking technology shows that aggressive children, when observing a scene of violence, focus on the model of behavior, while non-aggressive children focus on the circumstances or consequences of violence (Horsley, de Castro& Van der Schoot, 2009).

Thus, from an evolutionary perspective, the attention paid to information about violence in multimodal texts is explained by the effectiveness of violence as a means of ensuring security, competition in obtaining resources for life, and control over the situation and the people.

The behavioral concept of perceiving violence focuses on explaining how people learn patterns of violence to apply them later, as opposed to the evolutionary one that deals with the problem of incitement to violence. These representations are imprinted in memory in the form of patterns or scenarios of behavior in situations where the reader observed violence, used violence, or was subjected to violence. The subject of behavioral analysis is the architecture of violent behavior, its purpose, means, and process, as well as the mechanism for changing them. It is assumed that people learn violent behavior under the influence of others, i.e., directly as well as observing the violence of other people (indirectly, vicariously).

The behavioral approach has been confirmed in experimental and empirical studies. In terms of the subject of the study, the authors refer the reader to the meta-analysis of psychological studies of the consequences of the perception of media and video information about violence by independent samples (more than 4,500 people), carried out by K. A. Anderson and B. J. Bushman. Their conceptual model of the influence of information about violence on behavior contains a description of two effects: short-term and long-term (2001). The short-term effect arises from a single observation of violent information. It is expressed in the expansion of ideas about the conditions for the manifestation of a specific form of an aggressive emotional state, including the subject's current model of violence. The long-term effect arises from repeated observation of violence (aggressive films, computer games). As a result, the following is formed: a) the idea of the value of violence; b) perception of the situation in terms of violence (object, goal, means, process); c) fixation on aggressive and hostile behavior of people around (aggressive expectations); d) strategies for aggressive behavior; e) decreased sensitivity to violence (tolerance to violence). It can be assumed that these newly formed structures are restructuring the personality of the viewer, making them more susceptible to patterns of violent behavior.

So, the viewer's attention to the topic of violence can be explained by learning new or improving existing models of violence. Another explanation could be a state caused by an intense perception of information about violence, which is expressed by facilitating the recognition of information about violence and increasing focus on it.

The socio-informational concept of perceiving violence is based on a socio-cognitive approach to explaining perception and response to information. With regard to the ideas of the concept, the viewer perceives the multimodal text and decodes its meaning, taking into account their own knowledge about violence and life experience. Afterward, the viewer evaluates the perceived (understood) meaning, considering their own goals, regulating the emotions that arise

in this case, assuming an alternative meaning of information, which they associate with the previously obtained information, comparing them, evaluating the results, and ultimately forming a response model. This concept associates the perception of multimodal information with emotional reactions and behavioral responses to it.

It is important to note that information about violence correlates with individual patterns of its interpretation by the reader, where not only knowledge is important but also the possibility of its application. For example, when showing children drawings with scenes of violence, experimental subjects with high and low levels of personal aggression differed in the duration of their recognition of violent and non-violent behaviors. Aggressive children recognized them faster when viewing violent drawings and slower when viewing non-violent drawings. The explanation for this lies in the interpretation scheme of information based on the expectations of the viewer (de Castro, 2004). According to it, images of aggressive or violent information are decoded faster if they correspond to the knowledge or experience of the reader.

Summarizing the review, the authors note that the studied concepts make it possible to predict some features of the perception and interpretation of multimodal violence inciting texts by the reader in the terms of several characteristics.

Discussion

The article analyzes the concepts of perception of multimodal texts containing information about violence. The need for analysis is conditioned by the high importance of explaining the patterns of perception of a multimodal text containing information about violence, as well as measuring the impact of such texts on the reader's perception of violence. The results of the analysis allow the authors to formulate the following conclusions.

Applying the description of the function of the sign, proposed by R. Morris (Jia, 2019), to the description of the subject's actions when perceiving the meaning of the text, the specificity of the multimodal text should be emphasized. Thereby, the information transmitted by means of signs is intermediated by an expressive component that forms an emotional-evaluative attitude as well as a pragmatic component that encourages certain actions. The manifestation of the expressive and pragmatic components seems essential to the extent that it competes with the information component. As a result of this, it is possible to change the subjective reading of the sign in response to changing the attitude towards it. Therefore, the correspondence between the author's and the reader's interpretations of the text depends on the effects that the medium of information has on the subject (Potts, 2010). Finally, the comprehension of a text with elements of violence depends on the strategy of structuring the information, expressed by different means.

It can be also concluded that the possibilities of the semiotic approach in explaining the process of perceiving a multimodal violence-inciting text depend on the heterogeneity of the semantic field of these texts: visual images, symbolic

units, and linguistic units. Despite the predominant role of the verb in violence-inciting texts, the correct interpretation of meanings depends on the reader's ability to understand information, that is, to perceive the meanings of elements presented not only in verbal but also in figurative and symbolic encoding.

Currently, the multimodal approach is used in the expert assessment of multimodal texts reflecting the ideas of radical violence. On its basis, methods of content analysis of texts that reveal extremism have been developed (O'Halloran et al., 2019). The categorical system used for analysis (experimental, interpersonal, and textual) makes it possible to fix the semantic meaning of different components of a multimodal text. The construction of logical-semantic relations allows the authors to evaluate the illocutionary (communicative) intention of the text, thereby clarifying the role of different language systems in a multimodal text structure. This approach expands the understanding of the pragmatic potential of a multimodal text by showing the influence of the transmitted information on the reader's knowledge about social life, current events, connections, and relations between them. Furthermore, it aids in discerning the reader's disposition towards specific information and their willingness to employ violence.

Concluding the presentation of the structural and multimodal approaches, the authors should note that the common explanation of the process of understanding meanings for both approaches could only be the reader's ability to perceive the semiotic system of multimodal text, which translates information about violence. Its understanding is explained on the basis of the perception model used to explain the understanding of information in a sign. At the same time, the approaches and the models of perception are rather laconic in explaining alterations in reading comprehension. Errors in the understanding of the meanings of violence, additions, or changes introduced into the text are explained from the standpoint of a semiotic approach, only in some cases allowing reference to the reader's ideas (Wignell et al., 2018).

A. Gorbacheva and A. Varlamov point to a frequent divergence between signifier and signified in the text, which, in relation to multimodal texts, seems to be in excess of semiotic resources, a violation of logical-semantic intratextual relations (2018). However, the deformations in the perception of multimodal texts implying information about violence can be explained by the psychological properties of the reader. The involvement of psychological concepts expands the understanding of the extralinguistic structures that facilitate the perception of the text.

The perception of information about violence in multimodal text is accordingly determined by the mutual influence of intra- and extralinguistic factors. The areas of their influence on perception are considered from the following points: intralin-guistic factors determine the availability of information in the text for the explication of its meaning; extralinguistic ones determine the attitude to information and the ways of using it: in presentation, in attitude and assessment, in behavior. The authors believe that for the process of perception, these groups of factors are related and complementary. As the review has shown, the availability of information

about violence leads to its memorization and, in the future, its involvement in the processes of awareness of outward things and decision-making. The need for information about violence encourages readers to expand their understanding of the meaning of words, symbols, and images.

Intralinguistic factors are represented by the characteristics of the language system of the multimodal text and the specificity of the linguistic means of representing violence. In particular, the speed and correctness of the perception of information about violence are due to the use of several information coding systems in the text: verbal, symbolic, and figurative. The typicality and limitations of the linguistic means used in the text, the logical and semantic connections of elements in the text, the coherence of the semantic field of the text, and the experience of the reader accelerate the perception of information about violence. The perception of information is slowed down by semantic redundancy, logical and semantic fragmentation of the text elements, and differences in the concepts of violence in the text and in the reader's consciousness.

Extra-linguistic perceptual factors characterize the cognitive and personality traits involved in the perception of information about violence. These factors stimulate the perception of information about violence and regulate its perception. Their role in perception can be determined by the speed and accuracy of the reception of information, as well as by the attitude toward it expressed in the form of an assessment. The key factors stirring up the perception of information about violence are the following: a) aggressiveness as an individual and typical trait; b) the need for the use of violence, caused by looking for protection, competition, or control; c) the experience of perceiving scenes of violence. The significance of the influence can be established by indicating the distribution of attention across the various components of the multimodal text. The way of such distribution depicts the scenario of violent action, the objectives of violence, the means, and the circumstances of violence.

It is equally important to note that the analysis of extralinguistic factors is based on the hypothesis of the psychological conditioning of interest in violence and information about it in multimodal texts.

First, the excessive attention to information about violence is explained from the position of using violence as a means of adaptation to the conditions of life and work, an instrument of effective competition.

Second, the reader's focus on certain elements that illustrate the purpose, means, and methods of using violence is explained by teaching the use of violence as it is presented in the multimodal text.

Third, the high speed of viewing from the standpoint of social-cognitive concepts is explained by the simplicity of decoding the figurative, symbolic, and verbal components of the multimodal text and the synthesis of the information received into a single semantic whole. This fact illustrates not only knowledge of the rules for interpreting information but also the readiness of the reader

to perceive its meaning, which is important for texts with information about violence.

This assumption is confirmed by the analysis of psychological research on the perception of visual information about violence. On this basis, it is possible to expand the model of perception of multimodal texts containing information about violence. The process of perception of such texts is stimulated and regulated by the reader's personality structures: individual characteristics, attitudes towards violence, and experience of perceiving violence.

Conclusion

The scientific result of the article is the thesis that the perception of multimodal texts implying information about violence can be explained through the synthesis of linguistic and psychological concepts. By analyzing and generalizing the structural and multimodal concepts of multimodal text analysis, evolutionary, behavioral, and socio-informational concepts of violence, intra- and extralinguistic factors influencing the perception and understanding of information about violence are described.

iНе можете найти то, что вам нужно? Попробуйте сервис подбора литературы.

Therefore, the following model of perception of multimodal violence inciting text in the form of interrelated areas is proposed: "multimodal text — information about violence — reader". A complex of extralinguistic variables that reveal the reader's attitude toward violence is introduced into the concept of the perception of a multimodal text.

It is expected that further empirical studies will confirm the reliability of this model. Certainly, to study intra- and extralinguistic factors in the perception of multimodal texts, the operationalization of the model is necessary. It seems advisable to register the following aspects in the further experimental study:

a) reading path to determine the concentration or avoidance of the multimodal text elements.

b) eye reactions, indicating psycho-emotional stress (dilated pupil, blinking), revealing the influence of information on the state of the reader.

c) the reader's interpretation of the meanings of the multimodal text elements to describe the semantic and conceptual (subjective) construction of the text, a subjective assessment of the relevance of information about violence in multimodal text.

As a result of the analysis, the scope of the study of perception has been expanded to the "multimodal text — information about violence — reader" model. The given model needs empirical confirmation by perceptual and cognitive effects arising from the perception of multimodal information about violence. The verification of the validity of the model is the next stage of the study.

Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 22-18-20091)

References

Aliev, R. T. (2023). Crossing the Threshold: School Shooting as a "Ritual of Chiral Initiation." Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies, 5(3), 221-245. https://doi.org/10.46539/gmd.v5i3.431

Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature [PsycEXTRA Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.1037/e315012004-001

Buss, D. M. (1998). The evolution of interactionism in personality and social psychology: (592722011-002) [PsycEXTRA Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.1037/e592722011-002

De Castro, B. O. (2004). The development of social information processing and aggressive behaviour: Current issues. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1(1), 87-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620444000058

Gazizulina, L. R. (2012). The Comparative Analysis of Realisation of Concepts Nasilie/Violence in Didactic Texts of School Literature. Kazan Science, 11, 190-194.(In Russian).

Gazizulina, L. R. (2013). The Symmetry and Asymmetry of the Basal Layer of the Variants of Concepts Nasilieand Violence. Bulletin of Chelyabinsk State University, 13, 23-29.(In Russian).

Gorbacheva, A. V., &Varlamov, A. A. (2018). On the Hypothetical Model of Perception and Comprehension of Polycode Texts. Mezhdunarodnyy aspirantskiy vestnik. Russkiy yazyk za rubezhom, 4, 66-73. (In Russian).

Gorbacheva, A. V., Puchkova, A. N., & Osadchiy, M. A. (2018). On Principals of Perception and Semantic Laws of Sign Interpretation in Descriptive Part of Polycode Texts. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov «Uchenye zapiski UO „VGU im. P.M. Masherova"», 27, 53-57. (In Russian).

Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. Edward Arnold.

Holt, J. (2019, April 4). White Nationalists Adopt Clowns as Their Next Racist Symbol (Yes, Seriously). Right Wing Watch. https:/www.rightwingwatch.org/post/white-nationalists-adopt-clowns-as-their-next-racist-symbol-yes-seriously/

Horsley, T. A., de Castro, B. O., & Van der Schoot, M. (2009). In the Eye of the Beholder: Eye-tracking Assessment of Social Information Processing in Aggressive Behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38(5), 587-599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-009-9361-x

Jia, H. (2019). Foundations of the Theory of Signs (1938): A critique. Chinese Semiotic Studies, 15(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1515/css-2019-0001

Karasik, V. I. (2004). Yazykovoy krug: Lichnost', kontsepty, diskurs. Gnozis.(In Russian).

Laue, C., Griffey, M., Lin, P.-I., Wallace, K., van der Schoot, M., Horn, P., & Barzman, D. (2018). Eye Gaze Patterns Associated with Aggressive Tendencies in Adolescence. Psychiatric Quarterly, 89(3), 747-756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-018-9573-8

Lin, P.-I., Hsieh, C.-D., Juan, C.-H., Hossain, M. M., Erickson, C. A., Lee, Y.-H., & Su, M.-C. (2016).

Predicting Aggressive Tendencies by Visual Attention Bias Associated with Hostile Emotions. Plos One, 11(2), e0149487. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149487

Norris, S. (2004). Analyzing Multimodal Interaction: A Methodological Framework. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203379493

O'Halloran, K. L., Tan, S., Wignell, P., Bateman, J. A., Pham, D.-S., Grossman, M., & Moere, A. V. (2019). Interpreting Text and Image Relations in Violent Extremist Discourse: A Mixed Methods Approach for Big Data Analytics. Terrorism and Political Violence, 31(3), 454-474. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2016.1233871

Potts, A. (2010). 'Sign'. Critical Terms for Art History. University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/book5J

Sergeeva, Yu. M., & Uvarova, E. A. (2010). Polycode Text: Peculiarities of Structureand Perception. Nauka i shkola, 4, 28-134. (In Russian).

Sonin, A. G. (2005). Experimental Studies of Multimodal Text Comprehension: Main Directions. Voprosy Jazykoznanija, 6, 115-123. (In Russian).

Sonin, A. G. (2006). Modelirovanie mekhanizmov ponimaniya polikodovykh tekstov [Doctoral Thesis]. Moskva. (In Russian).

Vashunina, I. V. (2009). Vzaimovliyanie verbal'nykh i neverbal'nykh (ikonicheskikh) sostavlyayushchikh pri vospriyatii kreolizovannogo teksta [Doctoral Thesis]. Moskva. (In Russian).

Wignell, P., O'Halloran, K. L., Tan, S., Lange, R., & Chai, K. (2018). Image and text relations in ISIS materials and the new relations established through recontextualisation in online media. Discourse & Communication, 12(5), 535-559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481318766938

Wrangham, R. W. (2017). Two types of aggression in human evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(2), 245-253. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713611115

Yakin, H. S. M., & Totu, A. (2014). The Semiotic Perspectives of Peirce and Saussure: A Brief Comparative Study. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 155, 4-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.10.247

Zlokazov, K. V., & Lipnitsky, A. V. (2018). Violence in Creolized Text: Analysis of Comprehension Patterns. Political Linguistics, 71, 135-143.(In Russian).

Zubakin, M.A. (2012). Psychosemantics Estimation of Violence Scenes in Movies and Spectators' Depression. Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Series "Psychology", 17, 20-29. (In Russian).

Zumbach, J., Seitz, C., & Bluemke, M. (2015). Impact of violent video game realism on the self-concept of aggressiveness assessed with explicit and implicit measures. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 278-288. https://doi.org/10.10164chb.2015.07.018

Список литературы

Aliev, R. T. (2023). Crossing the Threshold: School Shooting as a "Ritual of Chiral Initiation." Galactica Media: Journal of Media Studies, 5(3), 221-245. https: //doi.org/10.46539/gmd.v5i3.431

Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic

Review of the Scientific Literature [PsycEXTRA Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.1037/e315012004-001