Intertextual and Hypermodal Representations of China's Cultural Confidence in Social Media Communication

Abstract

ABSTRACTSince the concept of “cultural confidence” was officially proposed by Chinese president Xi Jinping, there have been intensive social media discussions on how to carry forward Chinese cultural traditions. This article draws on the frameworks of intertextuality and hypermodality, and investigates Chinese social media users’ responses to the government’s advocacy of the promotion of cultural confidence. Using the method of critical discourse analysis, this study examines relevant posts on Sina Weibo in order to investigate the textual and semiotic realisations of different viewpoints about cultural confidence and to reveal the public opinions communicated on this social networking platform. The intertextual and hypermodal resources of social media communication present multiple voices representing Chinese netizens’ attitudes toward the government’s policy.