| "Central Daily" was founded in Nanjing in 1929,and it was suspended in 1937 due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War,which was accompanied by the most prosperous decade of the development of the modern Republic of China.Under the social background of the development of national industry and commerce,the prosperity of modern newspapers and periodicals and the new consumption demands of the people,the advertisements of "Central Daily" have achieved considerable development,with a large number and variety,covering all aspects of citizens’ urban life.Recorder,reflector and participant of Nanjing’s urban culture in the 1900 s.From the perspective of semiotics,the urban cultural symbols contained in the advertisement samples of "Central Daily" are divided into material cultural element symbols and conceptual cultural element symbols.Material cultural element symbols include urban architectural features,traffic roads,and cultural representations of citizen behavior such as eating habits,clothing,medical consultation,and smoking cigarettes;ideological cultural elements include cultural education,entertainment,and social customs,etc..These symbols show the characteristics of the fusion of Chinese and Western,and have a strong "localization" imprint.The meaning of the symbols is infiltrated into the daily life of citizens,and has the explicit value beyond the commodity itself in the advertisement,and the hidden value hidden behind it.It is constantly influencing the ideology and cultural orientation of Nanjing citizens through the suggestion,input and guidance of symbols.The advertising symbols of "Central Daily" not only reflect the urban culture of Nanjing in the Republic of China,but also play a significant role in promoting the construction of Nanjing’s urban culture,which is embodied in the healthy culture of nourishing and strengthening the body,the city image of cultural and educational resorts,and the diversified and trendy consumer culture.The medical advertisements reflect the imagery of the nation’s frailty,and strengthen the public’s awareness of nourishing,and also increase people’s awareness of sexual health.In the shaping of educational culture,a cultural Nanjing image full of new educational concepts and profound heritage has been reproduced.In addition,driven by commercialization factors,daily necessities consumption with pragmatism as the first value order,cinema consumption for comfortable experience and cosmetics consumption focusing on women appeared.Urban culture is produced by people’s main practice activities and projected in the advertisements of "Central Daily".The advertisements are further processed to add new cultural elements and connotations,which in turn have an impact on the citizens of Nanjing.The urban culture constructed in the advertisement of "Central Daily" has guided Nanjing citizens to establish many new and progressive values in patriotism,savings and financial management,and lifestyle.At the same time,in the process of advertising participating in the construction of Nanjing’s urban culture,there have also been unbalanced phenomena such as fraudulent advertising,creating false illusions to deceive consumers,deliberately avoiding the real life of the lower classes,and indulging in the habit of indulging in pleasures and detrimental to the shaping of urban cultural character.From the perspective of the effect of urban culture,these imbalances are worthy of profound reflection,in order to be more comprehensive and detailed in the future. |
