Abstract

Multimodal anthropology is defined as a subfield of sociocultural anthropology that encompasses research and knowledge production across multiple media platforms, both traditional and new. This approach encourages anthropologists to reconsider how they conduct their research, paying close attention to the role that digital devices and media technologies play in the lives of their interlocutors and how these tools redefine what it means to “do fieldwork.” Samuel Collins, Matthew Durington, and Harjant Gill, in their influential essay “Multimodality: An Invitation,” argue that multimodal anthropology does not seek to supplant visual anthropology, but rather to expand its boundaries to incorporate 21st-century technologies such as mobile networks, social media, virtual reality, and geographic mapping. The distinction between classical visual anthropology and multimodality lies in the nature of mediation and the multiplicity of sensory channels involved in the ethnographic process. While visual anthropology focused predominantly on the image (photography and film) as a record or object of study, multimodality recognizes that smartphones, social media, and digital software are transforming research dynamics in unprecedented ways.