Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts
Using a discourse approach, this study examines online news and opinion pieces about calls for the British Museum to return Chinese artefacts. We examine the interpersonal meanings conveyed by the linguistic choices made in these texts. This study uses the appraisal system in the systemic functional...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Journalism and Media |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/5/1/13 |
| _version_ | 1797240429464256512 |
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| author | Yau Ni Wan |
| author_facet | Yau Ni Wan |
| author_sort | Yau Ni Wan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Using a discourse approach, this study examines online news and opinion pieces about calls for the British Museum to return Chinese artefacts. We examine the interpersonal meanings conveyed by the linguistic choices made in these texts. This study uses the appraisal system in the systemic functional linguistic (SFL) framework to examine how news discourse addresses the issue and constructs interpersonal meanings. Graduation resources, as a subcategory of appraisal system, can underpin the degree of meanings and perspectives, allowing writers to adjust the gradability of attitudinal meanings conveyed to readers. This research first examines how the writer’s voice is embedded in graduation resources, and later, how these graduation resources are used in online news articles calling for the return of the artefacts. This study also examines how online newspapers covered a short film by vloggers called “Escape from the British Museum”, which sparked massive social media reactions, offering new perspectives on how social media and traditional news organisations interact to construct meanings through language. The results show that quantification and fulfilment (completion) resources are the two most common subcategories of graduation resources. The findings shed light on the language strategies used in news and social media discourse, as well as the interpersonal meanings behind such requests for cultural heritage repatriation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:07:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac19808627414c338bf58ba86bfa01d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-5172 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:07:17Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journalism and Media |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac19808627414c338bf58ba86bfa01d72024-03-27T13:49:50ZengMDPI AGJournalism and Media2673-51722024-02-015118920210.3390/journalmedia5010013Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural ArtefactsYau Ni Wan0Department of English Language and Literature, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, North Point, Hong KongUsing a discourse approach, this study examines online news and opinion pieces about calls for the British Museum to return Chinese artefacts. We examine the interpersonal meanings conveyed by the linguistic choices made in these texts. This study uses the appraisal system in the systemic functional linguistic (SFL) framework to examine how news discourse addresses the issue and constructs interpersonal meanings. Graduation resources, as a subcategory of appraisal system, can underpin the degree of meanings and perspectives, allowing writers to adjust the gradability of attitudinal meanings conveyed to readers. This research first examines how the writer’s voice is embedded in graduation resources, and later, how these graduation resources are used in online news articles calling for the return of the artefacts. This study also examines how online newspapers covered a short film by vloggers called “Escape from the British Museum”, which sparked massive social media reactions, offering new perspectives on how social media and traditional news organisations interact to construct meanings through language. The results show that quantification and fulfilment (completion) resources are the two most common subcategories of graduation resources. The findings shed light on the language strategies used in news and social media discourse, as well as the interpersonal meanings behind such requests for cultural heritage repatriation.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/5/1/13graduation resourcesnews discoursesocial media interactionscalls for returning Chinese artefactsBritish Museum |
| spellingShingle | Yau Ni Wan Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts Journalism and Media graduation resources news discourse social media interactions calls for returning Chinese artefacts British Museum |
| title | Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts |
| title_full | Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts |
| title_fullStr | Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts |
| title_short | Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts |
| title_sort | graduation resources in news discourse calls for the british museum to return chinese cultural artefacts |
| topic | graduation resources news discourse social media interactions calls for returning Chinese artefacts British Museum |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/5/1/13 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yauniwan graduationresourcesinnewsdiscoursecallsforthebritishmuseumtoreturnchineseculturalartefacts |