ABSTRACT

This article argues that multimodal semiotics can provide an analytical lens to critically understand recent film and media production by Indigenous people and communities in southern and central Abya Yala (or Latin America). It suggests precise ways to analyse this film and media production as the emergence of alternative public or ‘counter-public’ spaces that allow for the expression of ‘emergent’ forms of Indigeneity that contest dominant modes of representation. The argument focuses not only on these Indigenous texts’ semiotic contents (their design and production) but also on their discursive features, distribution and reception. The article ends up revealing that a multimodal semiotic approach provides a very useful toolbox to make sense of the complex and multi-layered nature of the various emerging cinemas of Abya Yala. The article argues that this approach allows for a better appreciation of the diversity of Indigenous film production, while also facilitating a critical engagement with the issues this media production raises in terms of authorship and modes of representation, among other issues.

摘要

本文认为，多模态符号学可以提供一个分析镜头，以批判性地理解阿比亚亚拉南部和中部（或拉丁美洲）土著人民和社区最近的电影和媒体制作。它提出了精确的方法来分析这种电影和媒体制作，因为另类公共或“反公共”空间的出现允许表达与主导表现模式竞争的“新兴”形式的本土性。争论不仅集中在这些土著文本的符号内容（它们的设计和制作）上，而且还集中在它们的话语特征、分布和接受上。文章最终揭示，多模态符号学方法提供了一个非常有用的工具箱，可以理解阿比亚亚拉各种新兴电影院的复杂性和多层次性。