1、multimodal discourse analysis,刘春芬,Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Chinas National Image Publicity, What is MD?,Current Trend of MDA in China,Chinas National Image Publicity,Multimodal Discourse Analysis about Chinas National Image Publicity,What is MD?,MD is any communicative activity that is creat
2、ed by more than one semiotic mode(符号模式), and these semiotic modes can be language, images, music, colors and so on. For instance, media discourse (such as news reports, which are usually reported in a way of combing both language and visual pictures in them) is the most common multimodal discourse i
3、n our life.,Current trend of MDA in China,Domestic studies in this field are relatively new, primarily focusing on the introduction of multimodal discourse analysis theories( 朱永生, 多模态话语分析的理论基础与研究方法,外语学刊,2007,5,138: 82-86), ads (陈瑜敏,奥运电视公益广告多模态评价意义的构建，北京科技大学学报（社会科学版）2008.9 ，24(3):108-114 ),posters (裴
4、晓娜，多模态奥巴马竞选海报语篇的社会符号学分析曲阜师范大学硕士学位论文), analysis of different genre types, such as pictures (李美霞, 宋二春 ，从多模态语篇分析角度解读意义共建以一幅中国古代山水写意画为例， 外语教学，2010.3,31（2）: 6-10), music（张平丽，音乐视频中意义的多模态构建以周杰伦的稻香为例，四川教育学院学报，2009.6, 25: 63-65), and films(元玉杰 ，电影语篇中评价:对态度意义的多模态分析, 山东大学硕士学位论文 ), and so on.,Chinas National Im
5、age Publicity &,Multimodal Discourse Analysis about Chinas National Image Publicity,Theoretical Basis: Visual grammar (VG),VG Big names: Halliday ( Systematic Functional Grammar), Kress & van Leeuwen (Visual Grammar) Kress and van Leeuwen bases VG on Hallidayan SFG,According to Hallidays framework,
6、there are three meta-functions in language structure and human communication, that is, ideational function (概念功能), interpersonal function (人际功能) and textual function(篇章功能).Responding to the three meta-functions of language, Kress and van Leeuwen assign representational(概念意义), interactive（人际意义） and c
7、ompositional meaning （构成意义）to images. Their correspondent relation is shown in the following table,Because Chinas National Image Publicity is mainly made up by several pictures, we here talk about Interactive meaning in VG in detail.,Three Strands of Meta-functions in SFL and VG,Interactive meaning:
8、 “Any semiotic system has to be able to project the relations between the producer of a sign or complex sign, and the receiver/reproducer of that sign“ (Kress&van Leeuwen, 1996:41). That is, any semiotic system has to be able to project a particular social relation between the producer, the viewer a
9、nd the object represented.,According to Kress and van Leeuwens explanation of VG there are four elements: visual contact (视觉), social distance （社会距离）, perspective （视角） and modality （语式） in applying VG to the exploration of the interactive meaning. Here we will use the first three, the visual contact
10、, social distance, and perspective.,According to Kress and van Leeuwen (1996:119), images involve two kinds of participants: represented participants (the people, the places and things depicted in images) and interactive participants (the people who communicate with each other through images, namely
11、 the producers and the viewers). Kress and van Leeuwen analyze images and come up with two kinds of image acts: offer and demand image acts. When images “offer“, they primarily offer information. When images “demand“, they demand attention or a specific reaction from the interactive participants, na
12、mely calling on the interactive participants to take actions.,What kinds of relations between the represented and the viewers are established is signified by many means (e.g. facial expression, gesture, posture, and so on). Take the facial expression as an example. If the represented participant smi
13、les, the imaginary relation must be a relation of social affinity; but if they stare at the viewers with cold disdain, it could be a relation in which the viewers are inferior.,These images is an offer image, functioning as offers of information.The people in these pictures are all smiling, so they
14、want to show they want to establish a relation of social affinity, that is Chinese people want to communicate with the world and are willing to make friends with people from other countries. This can give the world such image that Chinese people are easy-going, and friendly.,Social distance is the s
15、econd dimension to the interactive meaning of images. In daily communication, how intimate the participants in communications are can be easily recognized from the distance between them and the way they interact with each other. So is the case with images. The image producer tends to depict the repr
16、esented participants at different social distances, suggesting the represented participants are close or far away from the viewer.In images, according to Kress and van Leeuwen (1996: 130), social distance is realized through the “size of frame“ and there are three basic options: close-up, medium sho
17、t and long shot. The following table will show us the Visual System of “Size of Frame“,The first picture is the close shot , it shows the head and shoulders of the character and it is a close personal distance. The second one is the very long shot , it shows the torso of at least four or five people
18、 and it is a public distance.Most of the pictures are intimate or close distance. The whole video gives us the image that those characters show close social distance to the viewers. The very close distance greatly shortens the distance between the represented participants and the viewers and involve
19、s the viewers in the image. Thus the viewers are easily persuaded to acknowledge the information conveyed by the image.,Perspective is the third dimension of the interactive meaning of images. As for perspective, there are two dimensions to consider: horizontal (水平)and vertical（垂直） dimensions or ang
20、les. The horizontal angel encodes whether the image-producer and hence the viewer is involved with the represented participants or not. In other words, involvement（包含） or detachment（脱离） between the represented participants and the interactive participants (including the image-producer and the viewer
21、s) is encoded in the horizontal angle. While, in the vertical dimension, power relations are transmitted between the represented participants and the viewers and between the represented participants within an image.,Perspective,Horizontal angle水平,Vertical angle垂直,Frontal angle一Involvement 正面角度 包含,Ob
22、lique angle一Detachment 侧面角度 脱离,High angle一Viewer power 观众权利,Eye-level angle一Equality 齐眼角度,Low angle一Represented participant power 参与者权利,Dimensions of Perspective,All the pictures deploy frontal angle in terms of the horizontal angle and an eye-level angle in terms of the vertical angle. The frontal
23、angle transmits involvement and the eye-level angle shows equality between the represented participants and the viewers. With the frontal angle, the interactive participants are involved in the world. It seems that the viewers and the people in China live in the same community. Meanwhile, with the e
24、ye-level angle, a sense of equality entails between the viewers and the interactive participants. The represented participants and the interactive participants are in equal position.,ConclusionFrom the above all analyses of Chinas National Image Publicity, we come to these conclusions: MDA is quite
25、useful in our daily life Chinas National Image Publicity is a successful one. It gives the world such images that Chinese people are easy-going and friendly. They are willing to communicate with the world, and want to establish a close relation with people all over the world. They believe people around the world are equal.,Thank you!,
