Academic Journal

Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts

Bibliographic Details
Title: Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts
Authors: Yau Ni Wan
Source: Journalism and Media, Vol 5, Iss 1, Pp 189-202 (2024)
Subject Terms: graduation resources, news discourse, social media interactions, calls for returning Chinese artefacts, British Museum, Journalism. The periodical press, etc., PN4699-5650, Communication. Mass media, P87-96
Publisher Information: MDPI AG, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Journalism. The periodical press, etc.
LCC:Communication. Mass media
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.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2673-5172
Relation: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/5/1/13; https://doaj.org/toc/2673-5172
DOI: 10.3390/journalmedia5010013
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/ac19808627414c338bf58ba86bfa01d7
Accession Number: edsdoj.19808627414c338bf58ba86bfa01d7
ISSN: 26735172
DOI: 10.3390/journalmedia5010013
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals