Open Access Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 17 Issue 3

Issue of Chinese Semiotic Studies

Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available August 18, 2021

Part One: Cultural Signs and Sign Theories

August 18, 2021

Abstract

This paper argues that culture can be understood as a collection of codes that people learn as they grow up in a particular society and that these codes have certain attributes that explain their power. I suggest that codes must be coherent, be concrete, be clear, have continuity, and be communicated. I conclude with a discussion of national codes in comedy and offer the example of Japan, where people have different humor codes than in America.

August 18, 2021

On a Chomskyan postulation in conceptual metaphor theory

Yicun Jiang

Page range: 355-369

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to make a comparison between Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory and Chomsky’s transformational generative grammar, and to demonstrate a Chomskyan postulation in the former. Although Lakoff and Johnson regard Chomsky’s linguistics as a modern representative of traditional Western philosophies of language that tend to highlight the a priori assumptions rather than empirical findings, the cognitive theory of metaphor contains a Chomskyan metaphysical assumption as its most important notion, i.e. the assumption of conceptual metaphors. Thus, what the present paper wants to argue with ample evidence is that Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory resembles Chomsky’s logic and that their notion of conceptual metaphors is very much a Chomskyan postulation. What the present study tries to further demonstrate is that the abovementioned two theories actually have many points in common, which also implies that Lakoff and Johnson have failed to avoid the paradigm that they believe is conflicting with their own.

Open Access August 18, 2021

The narrative function of temporal signs: toward a semio-narratology approach

Jun Zeng, Mengqiu Wang

Page range: 371-385

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Abstract

Both narrative semiotics and semio-narratology are concerned with the relationship between “history” and “structure,” and consequently the academic focus in these areas has shifted to time. Do “temporal signs” exist? How is time semiotized by signs in narration? How do the narrative functions of temporal signs work? This paper answers these questions and explores semio-narratology, in a break with the ahistorical discourses of narrative semiotics, by way of a detailed analysis of The True Story of Ah Q and other works of modern fiction.

August 18, 2021

Chuang Tzu’s selflessness: mind-state and the cultural semiotics of jingshen

Zhong Chen, Tingting Yao

Page range: 387-399

Abstract

The cognitive paradigm of symbols in ancient Chinese philosophy is quite distinct from that of Western semiotic circles. Chuang Tzu, one of the most influential ancient Chinese philosophers, concentrates his study on exploring the state of the subject’s selflessness and establishes his own cognitive paradigm of jingshen . This paper uses his statements of “I lost myself” and “The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror” in The adjustment of controversies of The Chuang Tzu , to investigate the ideal selfless mind-state and selflessness. It attempts to transfer the relationship between subject and object in symbolic cognition into the connection of intersubjectivity to construct jingshen ’s cognitive paradigm of releasing symbolic meaning. The task of this research is to overcome the limitation created by the subject–object relation and finally to be “the Perfect Man” who can know the Dao .

Part Two: Cultural Signs and Social Practices

August 18, 2021

Genre mixing on WeChat: evidence from a movie review subscription account

Yanni Sun

Page range: 401-419

Abstract

Genre mixing and hybrid genre have been vital concepts in genre studies. With the increasing popularity of WeChat, a social media platform in China, a new type of hybrid genre comprised of media content and advertisements is emerging on WeChat subscription accounts. The present study collects 28 hybrid texts from a movie review subscription account in order to closely examine their communicative purposes and generic structure. It is found that instead of being fused into a monocentric entity, these hybrid texts are divided into movie review and advertisement parts, both functionally and structurally dichotomous. This expands and complements the existing understanding of concepts like hybrid genre and genre mixing. It also brings into focus the anti-monocentric nature of these concepts and questions the logocentric framework advocated in genre mixing studies.

August 18, 2021

Constructing online tourist destination images: a visual discourse analysis of the official Beijing Tourism website

Wenjin Qi, Nadezda Sorokina

Page range: 421-448

Abstract

Having the right image as a tourist destination brings immense benefits for a city’s international recognition in an increasingly competitive tourist industry. Official tourism websites as effective platforms to project a destination image online are able to provide substantial information about the tourist destination and attract a wider potential for inbound tourists from a global market. However, a lack of sufficient research has been noted regarding the integration of tourism studies and the study of website discourse, particularly visual discourse. This study, drawing on the theory of metafunctions in semiotics, conducts a visual discourse analysis by examining the three metafunctional meanings of visual images extracted from the official Beijing Tourism website. The results of both quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that the investigated website constructs an online city destination image through a multiplicity of tourist resources. The study concludes by outlining the practical benefits for tourism website designers and implications for future research.

August 18, 2021

The social semiotic context of the fashion show

V. Doğan Günay

Page range: 449-464

Abstract

A fashion show is a form of social activity which is worth examining on several counts, including in terms of the preparation of garments, the space in which they are presented, and the way of presenting them. In this study, the fashion show is evaluated within the boundaries of social semiotics, which is widely accepted as a subfield of semiotics. Single garments are not presented in the show. Instead, a collection of garments created by a fashion designer in the context of a particular theme and style is presented. The collection made by the designer also forms the discourse of the designer. There are fashion models who present the collection of garments in front of clients. Although the models are on the podium, they are, in fact, in the position of the voice of the fashion designer. It is the models who present the elements of discourse on the podium to the recipients. Accordingly, this paper first scrutinizes the theory of social semiotics. In this context, the place of the subject, object, and the discourse are examined. Then the obtained data is used for the analysis of situations in the show.

Obituary

August 18, 2021

Hongwei Jia, talented Chinese semiotician and translator, passes away at 44

Hongbing Yu

Page range: 465-466

About this journal

Objective

Chinese Semiotic Studies (CSS) is a peer-reviewed academic journal sponsored by the International Institute of Semiotic Studies of Nanjing Normal University and the Chinese Semiotic Research Center of the Chinese Association of Linguistic Semiotics.

As the only international semiotics journal in China appearing in English, CSS is a unique outlet for Chinese scholars to be heard in global academia, affording an expanded and constructive dialogue between Chinese and non-Chinese semioticians on China-related subject matters and beyond.

Each issue contains three thematic sections: (i) Chinese Cultural Signs and Sign Theories, (ii) Western Cultural Signs and Sign Theories and (iii) Interactions between Chinese and Western semiotics.

Topics

Chinese semiotics
Linguistic studies
Area studies
Asian studies

Article formats
Original Research Articles, Review Articles, and Book Reviews.

Volume 17 Issue 3

Issue of Chinese Semiotic Studies

Frontmatter

Culture codes and semiotics

Abstract

On a Chomskyan postulation in conceptual metaphor theory

Abstract

The narrative function of temporal signs: toward a semio-narratology approach

Abstract

Chuang Tzu’s selflessness: mind-state and the cultural semiotics of jingshen

Abstract

Genre mixing on WeChat: evidence from a movie review subscription account

Abstract

Constructing online tourist destination images: a visual discourse analysis of the official Beijing Tourism website

Abstract

The social semiotic context of the fashion show

Abstract

Hongwei Jia, talented Chinese semiotician and translator, passes away at 44