Study of Characterization in Romance of the Three Kingdoms from the Perspective of Multimodal Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the most important classical Chinese novels, and its character images have been discussed by scholars for a long time. Existing studies mostly focus on the written text, such as narrative description, dialogue and commentary, while the role of images and other visual signs in shaping characters has not received enough attention. In fact, many character images in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, such as Guan Yu’s red face and long beard, Zhuge Liang’s feather fan and silk headscarf, and Cao Cao’s white-faced image, have become widely recognized cultural symbols. These visual signs are not only supplements to the novel, but also take part in the construction and transmission of character meaning. From the perspective of Multimodal Discourse Analysis, this paper takes Cao Cao, Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang as the main research objects, and discusses how linguistic and visual modes work together in the characterization of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Based on Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual grammar, the paper analyzes the novel from three aspects: linguistic mode, visual mode and cross-modal interaction. The study finds that the linguistic mode mainly shapes character traits through forms of address, speech styles and narrative evaluation. The visual mode further strengthens these traits through color, posture and spatial arrangement. For example, Guan Yu’s image is closely connected with loyalty and righteousness, Zhuge Liang’s image is related to wisdom and calmness, while Cao Cao’s image is often linked with complexity and treachery. Through the interaction of language, image and later media adaptations, these characters gradually become stable and recognizable cultural signs. This study shows that characterization in Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not completed by language alone, but is produced through the cooperation of different semiotic modes. At the same time, multimodal communication also simplifies some complex character meanings. Therefore, the study of classical literary characters should not only return to the written text, but also pay attention to their visual representation and cross-medial circulation. This paper provides a new perspective for the study of classical Chinese fiction and helps to explain how traditional literary characters are accepted and reconstructed in different media.