| Summary: | This thesis draws on Social Symbolic Mediation Theory, Social Semiotics, and Discursive
Positioning Theories to explore a theoretical model I call “Authorship as Assemblage.” This
model considers authorship broadly; it posits that authors are “declared, hidden, or withdrawn”
contributors of multimodal meanings who orchestrate an array of semiotic resources, social
(inter)actions, and discursive positions within and across a variety of social contexts (Barthes,
1970, p. 110). A literature review and three case studies suggest some of the ways multimodal
authorship can be theorized and explored within and across social contexts, including a child’s
out-of-school environments, during professional picturebook-making collaboration, and in a
summer camp where youth explore playbuilding. By considering authorship broadly, its
significance in the multiple fields of study can be seen. Findings of the thesis include that
authorship can not be thought of as a isolated or stable phenomenon, for it is bound up with
semiotic, social, and critical meanings that interrelate with and interanimate each other.
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