ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the context for this edited volume on the discourses, modes, media and meanings utilised and circulated in an era of pandemic. It outlines the background to the multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) approach adopted in the collection of chapters in this volume that have examined the various communicative and meaning-making strategies employed in discourses about and during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is followed by a short summary of the content of each chapter.
