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The Social Semiotics of Book Apps

Redesigning Meaning for a Digital Childhood

The Social Semiotics of Book Apps cover

The Social Semiotics of Book Apps

Redesigning Meaning for a Digital Childhood

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Description

The transformation of book formats, production technologies and reading practices has always been at the heart of any social change. Sumin Zhao offers an in-depth study of an emerging book format - book apps for young children - through the theoretical lens of social semiotics, considering them as both a techno-social phenomenon and a semiotic artefact. She illustrates how on the one hand, the design and use of book apps is shaped by public, professional (design) and research discourses of technology, childhood and literacy - and on the other, how the interactive design of apps has the potential to reshape literacy and meaning-making practices in early childhood.

Zhao examines the ways in which the public, app designers and academic researchers discuss, debate, and understand children's book apps and eBooks, before looking closely at the meaning-making potentials of interactive design features such as touch. Showcasing various discourse analytical tools and concepts of the social semiotic theory this book illustrates how fine-grained semiotic analyses can be used to investigate multiple dimensions of a social phenomenon and unpack its complexity.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Book Apps as a Semiotic Technology: A Social Semiotic Approach
3. “There Isn't Another Kind of Book!”: Decoding Moral Panic and Public Discourses
4. Designing Book Apps: Diverse Voices from the Industry
5. Interactivity and Book Apps: Recontextualizing Interpretive Practices
6. Literacy Norms and Book Apps: Recontextualising Shared Reading Practices
7. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 25 Jan 2024
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 256
ISBN 9781350061767
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 20 bw illus.
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Sumin Zhao

Sumin Zhao is a Carlsberg Research Fellow at Unive…

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