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Soft promotion of national identity by an animated music video: A departure from

the Communist discursive tradition

Xiqin Liu (South China University of Technology)

Dongping Zheng (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa)

演示者演示文稿备注Good afternoon, everyone! I am Xiqin Liu, a visiting scholar under the supervision of Dr. Zheng. This talk is about the new trends of Communist discourse. We will use a music video as an example. It is The Song of Shisanwu for propagating the 13th Five-year Plan of China. It was released in 2015, with the opening of China’s top leadership meeting.

Outline 1. Introduction 2. Research questions 3. Methods 4. Linguistic Analysis 5. Visual Analysis 6. Auditory Analysis 7. Discussion and Conclusion

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演示者演示文稿备注This is the outline of the talk

1. Introduction

Animated music videos are generally neglected by critical discourse analysts. They deserve more attention because they can provide insights into key socio-political issues multimodally in the digital era.

The Song of Shisanwu (十三五之歌) is the first of its kind in the history of Chinese political discourse in social media.

Shisanwu (十三五) : the 13th Five-Year Plan.

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演示者演示文稿备注Previous literature on communist discourse is limited to linguistic analysis. Our study uses multimodal discourse techniques to identify the new trends.

The Song of Shisanwu (十三五之歌)

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演示者演示文稿备注This video includes several cartoon characters performing on the top of a van.

Communist vs democratic, China vs West political settings and discourses are often considered contrastive extremes (cf. Ji, 2017; Smirnova, 2015).

Comparative discursive studies on the linguistic level (e.g. Chen, 2004) mostly reveal the low transitivity, high modality (Smirnova, 2015) and preoccupation with political ideology representation (Wang, 2017) in communist discourse.

But little research has been done to examine their interactions multimodally to see if there is any movement between the two types of discourses, in view of globalization.

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演示者演示文稿备注…We’d like to take a small step to address the literature gap.

2. Research questions

1. What are the main mechanisms for propagating China’s national policy in this music video?

2. What trend(s) of national identity promotion can be identified?

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3. Methods Methods of multimodal critical discourse analysis

The verbal, visual and auditory modes of this video are

examined. Based on Systemic-Functional Linguistics, Machin and

Mayr (2012) provide analytical tools for exploring the verbal and visual modes, and Machin (2010) offers the framework for exploring the auditory.

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4. Linguistic Analysis

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Strategies Qualities

1. Style conversational, informal

2. Rhetoric rhyming, repetition, homophone, metonymy

(subsumbed within translanguaging)

3. Reference 2nd person, honorifics, aggregation

4. Transitivity not high (existential, passive structures)

5. Modality high (superlatives, polar words, modal verbs)

Table 1. Verbal qualities and discursive strategies

演示者演示文稿备注The overall language style is informal and conversational. The rhetorical devices include rhyming, repetition, homophone and metonymy. Interestingly, all the rhetorical devices are subsumed within translanguaging, the process whereby multilingual speakers utilize their languages as an integrated communication system.Regarding referential strategies, the second person is prominently used. The social actors are denoted by honorifics, indicating their importance and authority. Aggregation is used, highlighting the careful and hard process of making a national plan. Concerning transitivity, the song doesn’t display high agency on the whole. Many lines express existential processes, and the passive structure is largely used. This may connote rationality, technicality and objectivity, promoting the national policy as a scientific and reliable plan.Superlatives, polar words, and modal verbs are employed with high modality.

5. Visual Analysis

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Strategies Qualities 1. Style Pop art 2. Setting & non-

human images montage (8 major types)

3. Social actors 5 main types 4. Salience high degree 5. Color various colors; high saturation; luminosity

1. Rhetoric metaphor, metonymy, symbolism, personification, repetition

2. Transitivity high 3. Modality high

Table 2. Visual qualities and discursive strategies

The visual design is characteristic of Pop art, which draws on popular imagery from mass media and everyday life, addressing the needs of common people.

It may imply openness and democracy as a “cultural revolution” overturning a stifling social order ruled by conformity.

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Analysis of style

Analysis of setting, non-human images and social actors

The overall setting is colorful, mixing a great variety of images characterized by high saturation, luminosity and salience.

The major non-human images fall into 8 types which symbolize different activities or qualities related to Shisanwu.

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The social actors or human images fall into 5 types: 1) the band in a style of psychedelic Monty Python3 (with

animated figures of David Bowie in Aladdin Sane4 and Jimi Hendrix);

2) President Xi (with previous national leaders on a bank note);

3) think tanks (e.g. Albert Einstein as a symbol of wisdom and government ministers);

4) professionals as plan executants, like astronauts, doctors, bankers, engineers, farmers, workers, soldiers;

5) anonymous children and adults, playing, dancing or emerging in fashion shows across different eras etc.

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A model of interaction among them could be triggered in the audience minds, reinforcing interpersonal meaning.

think tanks: designers

President Xi: party

leadership

people: beneficiaries

executants: bankers, engineers etc

head

wisdom

professionalism happiness

Band

演示者演示文稿备注This is a pyramid with Xi on the top

Global branding (as cross-cultural communication):

Pop art often employs images in use in advertising, so product labeling and logos feature prominently in its imagery.

Logos of Shisanwu (the three digits of 1, 3, 5) are creatively repeated many times.

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Rhetorical analysis Besides the personification of various animals and

repetition of the logos of Shisanwu, there is systematic use of visual metaphors and metonymies.

signpost sparkler metaphor cluster

A signpost tells people directions, and a sparkler illuminates the road with its light. The importance of the national plan is highlighted.

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演示者演示文稿备注As body language, Chinese number gestures appear to denote the three digits of Shisanwu (one, three, five, see Figure 4). This visual symbolism is also intended for clarification, perhaps with a taste of commercial promotion for this economic plan.

If imagery can be compared to language as a semiotic resource, visual recontextualization is largely used in this video. The above rhetorical devices recontextualize issues and events.

The discourse of national identity promotion is enhanced by recontextualizing details emblematic of nation in western fashions featuring Pop art.

The promotion is softened in an adorable way to avoid straightforward and unfriendly over-nationalism.

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演示者演示文稿备注For instance, the image of a computer is used to represent the sophisticated and scientific process of making a national economic plan although the details of the process are omitted.

6. Auditory Analysis

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Strategies Qualities

1. Genre mixed: pop/folk music, rap, Funk

2. Rhythm duple meter (lively, strong), little change 3. Pitch medium; more change in chorus

4. Mood happy

1. Rhetoric repetition 2. Transitivity higher in chorus than phrase 3. Modality higher in chorus than phrase

Table 3. Music qualities and discursive strategies

演示者演示文稿备注Duple meter: Consisting of two or a multiple of two beats to the measure. 【音乐】 双拍子的：每小节含有两拍或偶数拍的

Analysis of vocal music It is pop (folk/country) blended with rap. The song is basically in strophic form, having the same

melody used for each strophe. The chorus is repeated five times interchangeably with

phrases . The whole song has a structure of

“introduction+ababababab+ending” .

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Section Time Transcript line 1. Introduction min. 00:00-00:20 Lines 1-7 2. Phrase (a1) min. 00:21-00:30 Lines 8-18 3. Chorus min. 00:31-00:40 Lines 19-23 3. Phrase (a2) min. 00:41-01:04 Lines 24-32 4. Chorus min. 01:05-01:14 Lines 33-37 5. Phrase (a3) min. 01:15-01:39 Lines 38-54 6. Chorus min. 01:40-01:49 Lines 55-59 7. Phrase (a4) min. 01:50-02:04 Lines 60-69 8. Chorus min. 02:05-02:14 Lines 70-74 9. Phrase (a5) min. 02:15-02:32 Lines 75-82 10. Chorus min. 02:33-02:42 Lines 83-86 11. Ending min. 02:43-03:03 Lines 87-92

Table 4. The song structure

演示者演示文稿备注We can see the periodicity.

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The medium-pitched vocals are basically dialogue and narration (rather than political slogans in traditional Chinese revolutionary songs), lively and slightly comical.

Voices in the middle register are heard, with associations of brightness and energy.

The main vocals are more at a soft conversational level than the chorus, creating greater intimacy and not taking up social space (Machin, 2010: 116).

The chorus assumes a higher level of dynamics and activity, with added instrumentation.

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Analysis of instrument music

It is basically country or folk in genre, blended with Funk.

As a form of pop music, country music has its origin in the folk music of working class.

Funk is a rhythmic, danceable form of music created by African Americans , popular among young people in western countries.

This video brings lively strong rhythm with little change.

Audience can be easily inspired to dance to the music because the rhythm is always there.

7. Discussion and Conclusion

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Major findings

1. Concerning multimodal discourse studies:

A novel pattern of intermodal synergy is identified from the

perspective of cross-cultural communication.

intermodal synergy

complementarity

concurrence

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Figure 5. Intermodal synergy concerning aesthetic pleasures

complementarity

concurrence

演示者演示文稿备注In cross-cultural media consumption, two aesthetic pleasures are expected, interest and enjoyment. To the western audience of this video, the novelty of foreign entertainment relate to interest, e.g. unfamiliar Chinese words in translanguaging, perceived as cognitively challenging but ultimately understandable. But culturally similar entertainment concerns enjoyment, like Pop art, country music, rap, and Funk. So the linguistic mode offers interest while the other two modes provide entertainment, achieving intermodal complementarity. The visual and auditory work together to achieve intermodal concurrence. By taking the new perspective of aesthetic pleasures in cross-cultural communication, this article complements previous literature addressing intermodal synergy.

2. Concerning critical discourse studies: 1) Three mechanisms for propagating the national policy are

identified: translanguaging rhetoric, rhetoric-based recontextualization, and global branding;

2) Soft promotion of national identity is found as a departure

from the Communist discursive tradition, indicating a governmental trend toward further democracy and openness.

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演示者演示文稿备注It is extraordinary that translanguaging embraces all the rhetorical devices in a systematic way.It can be argued that the discourse of nationalism is enhanced by recontextualizing details emblematic of nation in western fashions featuring Pop art, rap and Funk music. The promotion is softened in a more adorable way to avoid straightforward and unfriendly over-nationalism.Globally-oriented branding is achieved as the ultimate goal of this video, resonating previous studies. The use of corporate branding techniques may be explained partly by the economic theme of the national plan and the country’s current focus on economic development, and partly by Youku as market-oriented social media.National identity is conveyed through personal, affective experience with a bottom-up (rather than top-down) approach, integrating locality with cosmopolitan universalism. We found the blurring of boundaries between Communist and democratic discourses, evidenced by using Pop art, rap and Funk music for the first time.The departure from the Communist indicates a governmental trend toward further democracy and openness.

Limitations and future work:

1. The article doesn’t explore the effectiveness of the periodicity of occurrence of “the 十三what” and “十三五” which leaves a trace of phonetic memory on its audience. Future work could be done to investigate how this remembrance covaries with other features, such as music and color.

2. A comparison among this video, Chinese political songs and the official press may provide more insights.

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Xiqin Liu Add: School of Foreign Languages, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China Email: flxqliu@scut.edu.cn Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiqin_Liu2 https://scut.academia.edu/XiqinscLiu Wechat: liuxiqin1234

Mahalo!

mailto:flxqliu@scut.edu.cnhttp://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjltY6f8tLcAhUmHTQIHZXWDRAQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestanimations.com%2FMusic%2FNotation%2FNotation.html&psig=AOvVaw3UpdhA8KOchI9buFyEQWOP&ust=1533454639354223

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