A Multimodal Discourse Study Of Cultural And Blog-like TV Programs

Accompanied by the upsurge of economy,China has gradually transferred much of its resources to the replenishment of traditional culture.Perhaps the most momentous element of soft power,culture definitely represents an indispensable part of the comprehensive strength of a country.To build a solid foundation on which culture is capable of prospering,both the government and the citizens should strive to shape the"Image of Chinese culture".President Xi Jinping on the 12th Collective Study held by CPC Central Committee Political Bureau,also addressed that the improvement of soft power is closely linked to the achievement of "Two Centuries Goal" as well as the actualization of the "Chinese Dream of Great Chinese Nation Rejuvenation"The imminent demand of the shape of the "Image of Chinese Culture" has prompted television,a traditional public media that possesses a considerable number of audiences and has tremendous influence on the shape of public ideas and opinions,to become the front from which traditional culture can be disseminated.Stimulated by national policies,programs related to traditional culture have become the emphasis of the whole media industry.However,the relatively low acceptance and popularity created a bottleneck that strongly hindered the spread of such programs.The records before 2017 demonstrate a frustrating fact that Culture-Museum Based Programs did a poor work on drawing the public's attention.It was not until the emergence of National Treasury,a delicately produced and innovatively improved program,that the prevalence of Culture-Museum Based Programs has begun.According to the data presented on CSM Media Research,among all the independent programs gone out in the identical time slot,National Treasure was capable of maintaining a rank consistently higher than 15,occupying an outstanding market share.On Bilibili,its Second Season was reported to be viewed for 26 million times,with each episode receiving more than 10 thousand of comments.Additionally,the program provoked the enthusiasm among public who then paid much attention to traditional culture and museums,and even boosted the development of local travelling.Evidently,National Treasure,with its intention to reveal the charm of traditional Chinese culture,spread the value treasured by the modern nation,and consolidate the foundation bolstering the enhancement of soft power demonstrates its success on shaping the“Image of Chinese culture" via its unique story-telling techniques.This thesis uses National Treasures as the primary subject,on which insightful and detailed analysis is performed by means of documentary analysis,case analysis,and text analysis.It also penetrates into the core of the program featured by its multimodal discourse through the perspective enlightened by the same discourse.Among the five dimensions of Systemic-Functional Linguistics,a theory underlies the Multimodal Discourse Theory,content,meaning,and context are the three most prominent strata that construct the framework of the analysis of National Treasures in the thesis,contributing to the research on the strategies adopted to shape the "Image of Chinese Culture".The three strata elaborate gradually deeper within the program:the coordination of symbols creates the content;metaphor and metonymy are used to further explain the symbols so as to shape the "Image of Chinese Culture";ultimately,the range,ways,and tones are determined in the context dimension in order to enable audiences to cognize and agree with the image illustrated in the program.The thesis consists of the following chapters:Chapter one,an introduction,offers a brief depiction on the research background,the current status of pertinent research,and the concept of multimodal discourse theory.Chapter two details the definition of Culture-Museum Based Television Program and gives concrete analysis on the social context in which such programs prosper.The goal of the chapter primarily involves the illustration of nation's emphasis on the shape of the "Image of Chinese Culture",the eager to enhance the soft power of a nation,and the reasoning behind the choice of National Treasures as the research subject.Most significantly,the chapter highlights the categories of multimodal discourse and correspondingly defines National Treasures as a multimodal discourse to ensure the feasibility of the choice of the sample.Chapter three starts with content,the first dimension chosen,of National Treasures,classifying the different semiotic systems displayed in the program and exploring the functions of those systems which aim to construct the meaning of the discourse.The diversified meanings reflected in National Treasures make it compulsory to use various symbols to describe such detailed elements as style,position,and cultural core.Besides,the chapter also summarize the relationship between each symbol and the phenomenon emerged when several symbols interact with each other in the program.Chapter four concentrates on meaning,the second dimension chosen,of National Treasures.Useful tools for the research on Multimodal Discourse Theory,metaphor and metonymy implemented in the program are exemplified to illustrate how "concrete" is converted to "abstract" and how "small" is used to hint "big".The two measures are adopted with an attempt to visualize the originally abstract "Image of Chinese culture",and to convey a deeper meaning underlying the image to audiences.The final chapter entails the context,the third dimension chosen,of National Treasures.Focusing on captivation of sense of identity from audiences,the producers of National Treasures had devoted themselves into the shaping of the "Image of Chinese Culture" on both the content and meaning.With regard to the final dimension,the program still maintains its effort to achieve the identical goal.The delicate constructed range,ways,and tones of discourse manifests the determination of producers who persists on the pursuit of sense of identity from the public.Only by accomplishing the goal can a program really portray the values of culture.In conclusion,the thesis intends to offer a different perspective,namely the multimodal discourse,so as to provide other producers of similar programs a reference with which they are able to engender outstanding works.