Digital artefacts as representations: forging connections between a constructionist and a social semiotic perspective

This paper uses the methodology of cross-case analysis to clarify connections and differences between two specific conceptual frameworks, multimodal social semiotics and constructionism, in particular in the ways they each deal with the idea of representation. It builds especially upon the idea of “distance” of digital representations with respect to usual representations, stressing the multidimensionality of this notion and possibilities for progress towards a shared framework for research about representations. The paper focuses on the cross-case analysis study of a “middle distance” dynamic digital artefact, MoPiX, by two teams sharing a common reference framework (constructionism), but with distinct views with regard to representations. The research yielded a distinction in the ways connections between representations are valued by the two approaches and their respective interpretations of meaning generation.