Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the multimodal construal of the semantic domain of culinary operations in Japanese and Chinese. The analysis uses the semantic domain framework developed by Halliday and Matthiessen (1999) and the system of logico-semantic relations between image and text developed by Martinec and Salway (2005). The data consist of multimodal recipes for Chinese dumplings in both Japanese and Chinese with occasional reference to a comparable English recipe. We first compare the linguistic construal of the culinary semantic domain for English developed by Halliday and Matthiessen with the Japanese and Chinese texts. We then analyze the multimodal construal of this experience and the image-text relations in each of the recipes. The paper enhances previous findings on recipes in Japanese and English by Martinec (2003) and makes an important contribution to cross-cultural issues in multimodal text analyses through highlighting some of the similarities and differences in the ways that Japanese and Chinese multimodal recipes integrate visual and verbal resources in construing a comparable semantic domain. The paper concludes with a brief interpretation of the findings against the texts' socio-cultural contexts.
About the authors
Wendy L. Bowcher is a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, China 〈wendybowcher@gmail.com〉. Her research interests include multimodal discourse analysis of Japanese and English texts, English intonation, language education, and context in linguistic theory. Her publications include New directions in the analysis of multimodal discourse (co-edited with T. Royce, 2007) and Multimodal texts from around the world: Cultural and linguistic insights (2012).
Jennifer Yameng Liang is a lecturer at the University of Science and Technology Beijing 〈l.jennifer.w@gmail.com〉. Her research interests include Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and multimodal/multisemiotic studies. Her publications include “Chinese tourist site entry tickets: Intersemiotic complementarity in an ecosocial process” (with W. Bowcher, 2013) and “Representing Chairman Mao: A social-semiotic analysis of two statues on a red tour” (with W. Bowcher, in press).
Suijun Wen is a lecturer at Guangdong University of Finance and a PhD candidate at Sun Yat-sen University, China 〈wen.kawaii@gmail.com〉. Her research interests focus on Japanese grammar, systemic functional linguistic theory, multimodal discourse analysis of Japanese and Chinese texts, and audiovisual translation. Her publications include “Comparative study of the passive sentences of Chinese, English, and Japanese” (2008); “Zhong, Ying, Ri Yuyan Duibi xia de Riyu Jiaoxue” (2008); and “Eryu Xiezuo zhong Muyu Qianyi de Fenxi” (2008).
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
