Social Identity and Discourses in Chinese Digital Communication

Examining how diverse social identities are constructed in digital communication in China, this edited collection provides a multidimensional exploration of the diverse, discursive forms and practices used to construct and present the “self” online. Contributing authors provide analyses of China’s digital communication platforms, such as social media platforms, news websites and short video applications, drawing from a wealth of data to study daily practices of digital performance of identity and maintenance of social bonds.

Comprised of nine chapters, this essential volume is divided into three distinct sections, taking a hierarchical approach to analysing social identities within Chinese digital communication at the micro, meso and macro levels. Diverse methodologies are applied throughout, incorporating insights from both linguistic theories and semiotic or textually oriented analyses, while also considering the wider societal contexts.

Readers are encouraged to analyse the main features of this digital culture and to investigate how language and discourse are encountered through media. This book will be of value to a wide variety of scholars and students in sociolinguistics, communication studies and Asian studies.

Hongqiang Zhu is Professor of Linguistics at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

Debing Feng is Professor of Linguistics at Hangzhou Normal University, China.

Xinren Chen is Professor of English and Linguistics at Nanjing University and Executive Director of the China Research Center for Language Strategies, China.