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Science Communication on the Internet: Old genres meet new genres
Edited by María José Luzón and Carmen Pérez-Llantada
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 308] 2019
► pp. 153–172

Chapter 8
The role of genre hybridity and hypermodality in digital knowledge dissemination

The case of the IEEE Spectrum

New forms of discourse which have emerged as a result of synergies between traditional and digital genres utilize the resources of multimodal and hypertextual communication to change the ways in which knowledge is communicated. This case study examines the online edition of the IEEE Spectrum magazine, which uses the potential of new media and integrates a variety of genres to inform the members of IEEE, the world’s largest engineering association, about advancements in technology, engineering, and science. The study seeks to explore in what ways the newly evolved genre of the hypermodal digital article is related to the genres traditionally used for the dissemination of scientific knowledge and how the affordances of digital format maximize knowledge dissemination.

Keywords: IEEE Spectrum , multimodality, knowledge dissemination, hypermodal digital article, genre hybridity, hypertextuality, recontextualization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Genre hybridity
    • 2.2Multimodality
    • 2.3Hypertextuality
    • 2.4Recontextualization
  • 3.Our study
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Results and discussion
    • 5.1 IEEE Spectrum website
    • 5.2 IEEE Spectrum digital hypermodal articles
      • 5.2.1Embedded genres
      • 5.2.2Hyperlinked genres
      • 5.2.3Analysis of a sample hypermodal digital article
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix: List of IEEE Spectrum analyzed articles
Published online: 4 December 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.308.08mir
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Appendix: List of IEEE Spectrum analyzed articles

DA1
Why your GPS Receiver Isn’t Bigger than a Breadbox ([URL]) (Published online 19/04/2018)
DA2
The Troubled Quest for the Superconducting Wind Turbine ([URL]) (Published online 26/07/2018)
DA3
The Green Promise of Vertical Farms ([URL]) (Published online 02/06/2018)
DA4
The Struggle to Make Diesel-Guzzling Cargo Ships Greener ([URL]) (Published online 29/05/2018)
DA5
A Quantum Drum Brings Quantum Mechanics to the Macroscale ([URL]) (Published online 22/05/2018)
DA6
How NASA Will Use Robots to Create Rocket Fuel from Martian Soil ([URL]) (Published online 30/10/2018)
DA7
This Innovative Technology Harvests Water from Cooling Towers ([URL]). (Published online 08/06/2018)
DA8
This Photocell Generates Both Power and Hydrogen ([URL]) (Published online 01/10/2018)
DA9
It’s Never too Early to Think about 6G ([URL]) (Published online 22/05/2018)
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Fetzer, Anita
2021. Chapter 2. Computer-mediated discourse in context. In Approaches to Internet Pragmatics [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 318], ► pp. 47 ff. DOI logo

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