Rhetorical Patterns in Different Languages/Linguistic Modalities: the Multidimensionality of Argumentative Constructions

Abstract

From the perspective of Contrastive/Intercultural Rhetoric, this study seeks to identify rhetorical, semantic, and imagistic patterns in digital-native science communication comics. The corpus comprises three comics produced in Brazil, Argentina, and the United States over the past decade and published on websites and in online magazines. The theoretical framework draws on Kaplan (1996), Sánchez-Jiménez (2020), and Fragozo (2011). Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative and comparative approach, focusing on the analysis of argumentative mechanisms and presuppositions at both verbal and visual levels. The findings suggest that, although the comics address similar themes—particularly global warming—they do so from distinct perspectives shaped by prevailing cultural values in each country. The study also identifies recurring argumentative strategies shared across the three languages, as well as presuppositional mechanisms that mark different discursive positions regarding climate change and its socio-political implications.