A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Interactive Meaning In Anti-corruption Discourse

Nowadays, thanks to the rapid development of science and technology and the multiplicity of information transmission channels, the multimodal discourse has been playing an increasingly important role compared to that of the traditional media in the field of public legal education(PLE). Recently multimodality has been widely employed in China’s anti-corruption campaign. Anti-corruption, being an urgent task for Communist Party of China and governments at all levels, has achieved great progress since the 18 th CPC National Congress. The achievements, at least in part, are attributable to all sorts of multimodal discourses which have attracted adequate concern to corrupt practices from the general public, and corrupt officials in particular, and cautioned them of the ill consequence of such practices. In other words, multimodal anti-corruption discourse contributes significantly in the course of anti-corruption campaign and in public legal education. This paper aims to analyze and interpret the interactive meaning construed in the anti-corruption discourse from the perspective of multimodal discourse analysis.The data consists of 18 anti-corruption videos taken from the website of China Legal Publicity and CCTV(China Central Television). By detailed analysis, the thesis intends to construct a pattern for analyzing the interactive meaning construed by each modality through the quantitative and qualitative approach. Firstly, based on the Visual Grammar developed by Kress and van Leeuwen, this paper comprehensively employs various elements in analyzing the interactive metafunction of images. Besides, it pays additional attention to the meaning of gestures in images, such as the pointing, OHP and OHS. Secondly, based on Systemic Functional Grammar developed by Halliday and Appraisal Theory proposed by Martin and White, this paper approaches the interpersonal meaning of language in the videos with the focus on mood and modality as well as the judgement and the graduation system. Lastly, based on integrating the theory of image-text relations developed by Salway and intersemiotic complementarity by Royce, the paper constructs a pattern for the analysis of image-text interrelations in constructing interactive meaning.Major findings, after detailed analysis, are brought about as follows. First, the interactive meaning of the anti-corruption videos is realized through the image act, the social distance the horizontal and vertical angle and the modality. The representation meaning of the right behaviors of being upright and honest and the severe consequences of corruption is offered to the viewer. The demand function calls up the empathy in shouldering the official’s duty. The high angle mainly is used in the images with corrupt practices, while the low angle mostly in the images with law or the symbol of law and justice.Second, in making interpersonal meaning in language, the offer and demand function, the modality and also appraisal system are employed. Declarative clauses offers the information of either the qualities of good leader, appropriate conducts of integrity or corrupt consequences or to the viewer while interrogative mood seeks for deep contemplation of the viewer and imperative mood makes commands to the audience to comply with the law and hold on their duty for families and society. The high modal value operators are inclined to show the enforcement of the law and the strong order given by the leader models who symbolize as law and justice. Most judgement resources are employed to express negative social sanction to corrupt practices but positive social judgement to moral integrity. Such judgement resources are endowed with collectivism of Chinese culture.Third, both text and image, though discursively equal or unequal, collaboratively construct the interactive meaning of anti-corruption videos in the respect of reinforcement of address in mood and attitudinal congruence in modality.Some limitations await further study, among many of them, phonological features such as intonation and tone of speech and paralinguistic ones such as facial expressions have not been considered in this thesis.