The Comparative Study Of Multimodal Metaphor In New Energy Vehicle Commercials

With the development of science and technology as well as the popularization of multimedia technology,the way people convey and obtain information is no longer limited to words.The research focus of linguistics began to shift from pure text analysis to multimodal discourse.Up to now,many scholars have studied multimodal metaphors and achieved fruitful results.However,these studies mainly focus on comics,public welfare video,film,print advertising,and so on,and there is relatively little research on video advertising.The research on new energy vehicles mainly focuses on the relevant policies and the development of new energy vehicle technology,and the research on automobile advertising is still insufficient.Therefore,this thesis mainly studies the multimodal metaphors in BYD’s new energy electric bus commercials at home and abroad,aiming to explore the categorization,the distribution of the modes,and the meaning construction of multimodal metaphors in domestic and foreign commercials.And the similarities and differences between the domestic and foreign commercials will be further explored.Finally,the reasons will be analyzed.This thesis mainly studies the following problems:(i)What are the similarities and differences between BYD’s domestic and foreign commercials for new energy electric buses?(ii)What are the features of multimodal metaphors in BYD’s domestic and foreign commercials for new energy electric buses?(iii)What are the reasons for the differences between BYD’s domestic and foreign commercials for new energy electric buses?Based on conceptual metaphor theory,conceptual integration theory,and multimodal metaphor theory,this thesis intends to select 5 BYD’s domestic new energy electric bus commercials and 5 BYD’s foreign new energy electric bus commercials as analysis materials.After finishing the collection,the following thing is to identify the multimodal metaphors in commercials and record the source domain and target domain of each metaphor and the modes constituting the source domain and target domain one by one.Then classify the identified metaphors according to Professor Feng’s theory about the categorization of multimodal metaphors.Finally,explore the similarities and differences between domestic and foreign commercials in the type selection of multimodal metaphors and the use of modality in the source domain and target domain.Through qualitative and quantitative analysis,it is found that:(i)The similarities of the domestic commercials and foreign commercials are that they both focus on the green and future and emphasize that BYD electric buses are the protector and creator of the green future.The differences are as follows: first,domestic commercials show that BYD electric buses can protect our living environment while foreign commercials emphasize that BYD electric buses can protect the global environment.Second,domestic commercials are life-oriented while foreign commercials are technological.Last,domestic commercials advertise BYD electric buses indirectly while foreign commercials advertise BYD electric buses directly.(ii)Both domestic commercials and foreign commercials include three types of multimodal metaphors,and the multimodal metaphors with mono-mapping are the most.The mapping ways of multimodal metaphors in the domestic commercials are more than those in the foreign commercials.(iii)The reasons for the differences between domestic commercials and foreign commercials are the difference in environmental awareness,the difference in values,and the difference in ways of thinking.This thesis further proves the universality of multimodal metaphor and provides a new perspective for the research of new energy vehicles.Through the analysis and comparison of multimodal metaphors in BYD’s new energy vehicle commercials at home and abroad,on the one hand,this thesis shows the categorization distribution and characteristics of multimodal metaphors in commercials,on the other hand,it also offers some reference for the advertising design of other advertising companies.As a key development project for all countries in the world,how to promote the popularization of new energy vehicles in China and better go to the world not only needs advanced technology but also needs active and effective publicity.