Book Title

Multimodal Chinese Discourse: Understanding Communication and Society in Contemporary China

Author

William Feng (Department of English and Communication)

Publisher

Routledge

Year of Publication

2023

ISBN

9780367672911

Introduction

This book helps readers to understand communication and society in contemporary China through systematic analysis of multimodal discourse at the national, institutional, and individual levels. China has undergone profound changes during the past decade or so. Politically, the Chinese government has been more proactive in domestic governance and foreign policies, as manifested in the Chinese Dream campaign and the national image publicity films respectively. Hand-in-hand with the socio-political change is the rapid development of new media, which has been changing how corporates do business, how institutions brand their images, as well as how individuals construct their identities and social relations. These developments have brought about significant changes to the discursive practices at the national, institutional, and individual level, characterized by the extensive use of multimodal resources and distinct promotional purposes.

Feng systematically investigates and discusses the new discursive features in relation to relevant socio-cultural contexts. The analysis and discussion provide researchers with a social semiotic perspective on various aspects of communicative and social changes in contemporary China. The book also contributes to the growing field of multimodality by developing a set of cross-disciplinary analytical frameworks to deal with complex discourse forms in print media, moving images, and new media.

The research findings provide a unique Chinese perspective on a broad spectrum of issues such as discursive governance, nation branding, university marketization, and identity performance. The book is relevant not only to discourse analysis and multimodality, but also to other disciplines which will benefit from a systematic understanding of Chinese discourse, such as cultural studies, communication studies and area/China studies.

Content

1. Introduction

2. Theoretical Foundation and Analytical Frameworks

3. Multimodal Metaphor and the Communication of the Chinese Dream

4. Multimodal Evaluation and the Promotion of China’s National Image

5. Fashion, Lifestyle, and Clothes Branding in E-commerce

6. Marketization and University Re-branding on TikTok

7. Tradition, Modernity, and the Multimodal Construction of Chinese Masculinity in a Reality Dating Show

8. Wanghong Girls’ Performance of Femininity in Livestreaming

9. Concluding Remarks

* Owners of respective book covers are credited. Book covers are for reference only. FH is unable to accept responsibility of any inaccurate information.