Gunther Kress
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Gunther Rolf Kress MBE (26 November 1940 – 20 June 2019) was a linguist and semiotician. He is considered one of the leading theorists in critical discourse analysis,
social semiotics Social semiotics (also social semantics) is a branch of the field of semiotics which investigates human signifying practices in specific social and cultural circumstances, and which tries to explain meaning-making as a social practice. Semiotics, ...
and
multimodality Multimodality is the application of multiple literacies within one medium. Multiple literacies or "modes" contribute to an audience's understanding of a composition. Everything from the placement of images to the organization of the content to ...
, particularly in relation to their educational implications. Kress has been described as "one of the leading academics of the early 21st century".


Biography

Kress was born in
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
, Germany, and was educated at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He trained as a linguist in Australia and London under MAK Halliday. He is mainly known for his contributions to the study of
Multimodality Multimodality is the application of multiple literacies within one medium. Multiple literacies or "modes" contribute to an audience's understanding of a composition. Everything from the placement of images to the organization of the content to ...
; he wrote with Theo van Leeuwen ''Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design'', one of the most influential books on the topic. Over his career he held positions at the Universities of Kent, East Anglia (UEA), University of South Australia, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and the Institute of Education, University of London. Kress was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) in the
2012 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom, on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from UTS (1992),
Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
(2015), and UEA (2020). He was also Professor Emeritus at UTS (1995).


Works

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See also

*
Visual literacy Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy, which commonly signifies interpretation of a written or printed text. Visual literac ...


Footnotes


External links


Gunther Kress page at the Institute of Education


1940 births 2019 deaths British educational theorists British semioticians Academics of the UCL Institute of Education Members of the Order of the British Empire British people of German descent {{UK-academic-stub