Cover not available
Article published In:
Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Vol. 19:1 (2021) ► pp.142–171

“Join the Army. Become the Power of China”

Multimodal metaphors in military recruitment advertising – “The Power of China”

 | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
 | Xi’an International Studies University
 | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Military recruitment advertising, as a type of authoritative political video advertisement, demonstrates a country’s military culture. This paper will provide a brand-new perspective in researching Chinese military culture from the approach of multimodal metaphor. Currently, a multimodal analysis of military recruitment advertising in terms of short video clips does not exist, and most of the existing multimodal studies have focused on Western mainstream media, whereas media with Chinese characteristics have remained mostly untouched by research. With Forceville and Urios-Aparisi’s (2009) Multimodal Metaphor Theory (MMT) as a theoretical basis, and the newly-released recruitment advertising “The Power of China” as the research object, this paper utilizes the MIPVU and ELAN image tagging software to identify and analyze the multimodal metaphors in “The Power of China” under the framework of MMT.
Keywords: multimodal metaphor, recruitment advertising, “The Power of China”
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Multimodal metaphor analysis on “The power of China”
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 28 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00079.sun
References (56)
References
Andrew, S. (2014). China’s real strategic culture: A Great Wall of the imagination. Journal of Contemporary Security Policy, 201, 211–226.Google Scholar
Baldry, A., & Thibault, P. (2006). Multimodal transcription and text analysis. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Bateman, J., & Schmidt, K. (2012). Multimodal film analysis: How films mean. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bateman, A., & Tseng, C. (2013). The establishment of interpretative expectations in film. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 11(2), 353–368. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bordwell, D., & Thompson, K. (2004). Film art: An introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Brown, M. T. (2012). “A woman in the army is still a woman”: Representations of women in US military recruiting advertisements for the all-volunteer force. Journal of Women Politics & Policy, 33(2), 151–175. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burn, A. (2013). The kineikonic mode: Towards a multimodal approach to moving image media. In C. Jewitt (Ed.), Handbook of multimodal analysis (pp. 373–383). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cienki, A. (2013). Image schemas and mimetic schemas in cognitive linguistics and gesture studies. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 11(2), 417–432. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coëgnarts, M. (2019). Analysing metaphor in film: Some conceptual challenges. In I. N. Ferrando (Ed.), Current approaches to metaphor analysis discourse (pp. 295–320). Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dicerto, S. (2018). Multimodal pragmatics and translation: A new model for source text analysis. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eric, R. (2016). Picture this: Multimodal representations of prospective teachers’ metaphors about teachers and teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 551, 33–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Evans, V. (2010). Figurative language understanding in LCCM theory. Cognitive Linguistics, 21(4), 601–662. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eve, S. (2017). Metaphor and metonymy in advertising: Building viewpoint in multimodal multi-space blends. Journal of Pragmatics, 1221, 65–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (1995). Conceptual integration and formal expression. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 10(3),1–33.Google Scholar
Feng, D. (2011). Visual space and ideology: A critical cognitive analysis of special orientations in advertising. In K. L. O’Halloran & B. A. Smith (Eds.), Multimodal studies: Exploring issues and domains (pp. 55–75). New York & London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Forceville, C. (1996). Pictorial metaphor in advertising. London & New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006). Non-verbal and multimodal metaphor in a cognitive framework: agendas for research. In G. Kristiansen, M. Achard, R. Driven, & F. Ruiz de Mendoza (Eds.), Cognitive Linguistics: Current application and future perspectives (pp.379–402). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
(2007). Multimodal metaphor in ten Dutch TV commercials. The Public Journal of Semiotics, 1(1), 15–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008). Metaphor in pictures and multimodal representations. In R. Gibbs (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp. 462–482). New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009). Non-verbal and multimodal metaphor in a cognitivist framework: Agendas for research. In C. Forceville & E. Urios-Aparisi (Eds.), Multimodal metaphor (pp. 383–400). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013). Metaphor and symbol: Searching for one’s identity is looking for a home in animation film. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 11(2), 250–268. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Forceville, C., & Urios-Aparisi, E. (2009). Multimodal metaphor. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goebel, Z. (2011). Enregistering identity in Indonesian television serials: A multimodal analysis. In K. L. O’Halloran & B. Smith (Eds.), Multimodal studies: Exploring issues and domains (pp. 95–114). New York & London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gutt, E. (2000). Translation and relevance: Cognition and context. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996/2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. New York & London: Routledge.Google Scholar
(2001). Multimodal discourse. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 202–251). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Maier, C. (2011). Knowledge communication in green corporate marketing: A multimodal discourse analysis of an Ecomagination video. In K. O’Halloran & B. Smith (Eds.), Multimodal studies: Exploring issues and domains (pp. 153–168). New York & London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Miranda, M. (2015). The role of gestures in the construction of multimodal metaphors: Analysis of a political-electoral debate. Belo Horizontei, 15(2), 343–376. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mulken, M., le Pair, R., & Forceville, C. (2010). The impact of perceived complexity, deviation and comprehension on the appreciation of visual metaphor in advertising across three European countries. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(12), 3418–3430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Norris, S. (2004). Analyzing multimodal interaction: A methodological framework. New York & London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2012). Multimodality in practice: Investigating theory-in-practice-through-methodology. New York & London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
O’Halloran, K. (2005). Mathematical discourse analysis: Language, symbolism and visual images. London & New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
O’Halloran, K., & Jewitt, C. (2004). Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic functional perspectives. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
O’Halloran, K., & Smith, B. (2011). Multimodal studies: Exploring issues and domains. New York & London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Orlebar, J. (2009). Understanding media language. MediaEdu [online]. Available at: [URL]
Painter, C., Martin, J., & Unsworth, L. (2013). Reading visual narrative: Image analysis of children’s picture book. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
Pérez-Hernández, L. (2013). Approaching the utopia of a global brand: The relevance of image schemas as multimodal resources for the branding industry. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 11(2), 285–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pragglejaz Group. (2007). MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically used words in discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 22(1), 1–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tasić, M., & Stamenković, D. (2015). The interplay of words and images in expressing multimodal metaphors in comics. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2121, 117–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rech, A. (2014). Recruitment, counter-recruitment and critical military studies. Global Discourse, 4(2/3), 244–261. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F. J., & Pérez-Hernández, L. (2011). The contemporary theory of metaphor: Myths, developments and challenges, Metaphor and Symbol, 26(3), 161–185. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sackett, P., & Mayor, A. (2004). Evaluating military advertising and recruiting: Theory and methodology. Washington: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Sissons, H. (2012). Journalism and public relations: A tale of two discourses. Discourse & Communication, 6(3), 273–294. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Skorczynska, H. (2014). Metaphor and education: Reaching business training goals through multimodal metaphor. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Science, 1161, 2344–2351. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Steen, G. (2011). The contemporary theory of metaphor-now new and improved! Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 9(1), 26–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Steen, G., Dorst, A., Herrmann, J., Kaal, A., Krennmayr, T., & Pasma, T. (2010). A method for linguistic metaphor identification. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swain, E. (2012). Analysing evaluation in political cartoons. Discourse, Context & Media, 2(1), 82–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M., Marrone, M., Tayar, M., & Mueller, B. (2017). Digital storytelling and visual metaphor in lectures: A study of student engagement. Accounting Education, 27(6), 552–569. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van den Hoven, P., & Yang, Y. (2013). The argumentative reconstruction of multimodal discourse, taking the ABC coverage of President Hu Jintao’s visit to the USA as an example. Argumentation, 271, 403–424.Google Scholar
Vera, J. (2013). Woven emotions: Visual representations of emotions in medieval English textiles. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 11(2), 269–284. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yu, N. (2009). Nonverbal and multimodal manifestations of metaphors and metonymies: A case study. In C. Forceville & E. Urios-Aparisi (Eds.), Multimodal metaphor (pp. 119–143). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Yus, F. (2009). Visual metaphor versus verbal metaphor: A unified account. In C. Forceville & E. Urios-Aparisi (Eds.), Multimodal metaphor (pp. 147–172). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Zhou, H. & Deng, Y. (2014). Coupling of different modes in multimodal metaphors with ELAN: A case study of spoken word poetry Hiroshima. Journal of Shaoyang University (Social Science Edition), 13(4), 94–100.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Tang, Ping & Yi Sun
2023. From a war of defense to conventional wars. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 21:2 ► pp. 444 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Zhonghua & Le Cheng
2022. Exploring Metaphorical Representations of Law and Order in China’s Government Work Reports: A Corpus-based Diachronic Analysis of Legal Metaphors. Critical Arts 36:5-6 ► pp. 96 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.