This article adapts and applies modality analysis to a new field — haircuts. In particular, it questions the acceptance and ubiquity of the bob. The article regards haircuts as semiotic constructs and modes of communication; as such, like all texts, haircuts can be subjected to multimodal discourse analysis. Modality is used as an analytical tool in approaching the analysis of the bob as a meaning-making resource. The bob is culturally and historically located before a comparative analysis of contemporary popular-culture texts which have ‘imported’ the bob is undertaken. The article attempts to find the bob’s core meaning by observing intertextual semiotic commonalities. It also brings to light the important role that the semiotician’s technical knowledge plays in demonstrating that modality — the appearance of naturalness in a given context — is not equivalent to bona fide naturalness.
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