A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of the Online Brand Identity Construction of National Museums
Table 1.
Multimodal realizations of the representationalmeaning on the museums’ websites
|
| Representational Meaning |
BM Homepage |
NMC Homepage |
|
|
| Narrative |
Action process |
museum tour video, showing visitors the overall view of museum |
carousel banners of posters and relics, rotating pictures, informing visitors of exhibitions |
|
|
| Reactional process |
visitors’ gaze at exhibits, showing visiting experience |
visitors’ staring at exhibits, forming an interactive process |
|
|
| Speech/mental processes |
visitors’ seeing and exploring experience;curators’ lecturing |
visitors’ watching and learning experience;experts’ lecturing |
|
|
| Conceptual |
Classification |
navigation bars & columns, showing museum functions; blocks of pictures, showing exhibits & exhibitions |
navigation bars & columns showing the cultural institution’s diverse roles; blocks of pictures, displaying exhibits & exhibitions |
|
|
| Analytical structure |
using distributive analytical structure to display exhibits by geographical regions |
using infographics (e.g., timelines, maps) to present elements and features of cultural history |
|
|
| Symbolic meaning |
iconic museum domes, images of artefacts, indicating the symbolic significance of global cultural heritage |
images of relics as symbolic attributes to emphasize the continuity of Chinese civilization and national cultural identity |
|
|
|
|
