Lifang Chen

Lifang Chen

Aug. 31, 2025

Multimodal discourse theory, Urban image; Narrative strategies, Communication effects.

In the context of globalization, urban image has become the core soft power for cities to participate in international competition. Short videos, with their audio-visual integration and lightweight dissemination characteristics, have gradually emerged as a crucial medium for cross-cultural communication of urban images. As an international lingua franca, English serves as a key medium for cities to break through cultural barriers and reach global audiences. Dongguan, as China's rapidly rising "world factory" since the reform and opening-up, has been transitioning from a "manufacturing hub" to a "manufacturing powerhouse" in recent years, generating new development momentum in areas such as technological innovation, cultural integration, and ecological livability. However, external perceptions of its urban image still predominantly remain tied to traditional manufacturing labels, with issues like stereotypical image representation and thin narrative in international communication. In this context, English short videos provide an opportunity for Dongguan to reconstruct a multifaceted urban image. Therefore, this paper will explore how to achieve effective urban image narration through the coordinated combination of multimodal discourse (such as scene construction of visual symbols, linguistic expression and musical accompaniment of auditory symbols, and narrative logic of textual symbols.

© 2025, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

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