Diachronic image construction in the documentary Seven Up: a multimodal critical discourse analysis

Danyang Wang and Yunhua Xiang ()
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Danyang Wang: Jilin University
Yunhua Xiang: Jilin University

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Based on the Visual Grammar (VG) of Kress and van Leeuwen, the sound analysis of Machin, the context model of Wodak and Meyer, multimodal frameworks of Zhang and Bateman et al., this paper proposes a method for Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) to study the diachronic construction of the interviewees’ images in the BBC documentary series Seven Up. Conducting a qualitative method supplemented with a quantitative one, this study finds that the interviewees’ images are constructed diachronically mainly through the changes in representative meaning, interactive meaning, and compositional meaning of the visual pictures. Besides, there is a complementary relation, either reinforcing or non-reinforcing, among the visual mode, the verbal mode, and the audial mode. Each interviewee ends up projecting a totally different image compared with their initial portrayal. This study also discusses how certain modes contribute to revealing the changes in the ideology of BBC and the changing socio-political reality of UK.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04641-1

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