Across the islands: A multimodal discourse analysis of government homepages

<i>This article examines the homepages of two island governments: American Hawaii and Chinese Hainan. Under Pauwels' (2012) multimodal framework for analysing websites as cultural expressions, we investigate how the homepages construct identities and multimodally portray the islands as tourist destinations. Through attractive imagery, interpersonal linguistic choices, and interactive links to social media, Hawaii’s homepage depicts the state’s identity as a modern, welcoming indigenous community. Hainan’s website has a Chinese version and an English version. With a newspaper type of official and formal presentation, the Chinese homepage promotes the provincial government’s identity as a traditional administration and information hub by extensively using impersonal semiotic resources with limited interactivity. In contrast, the English homepage creates an identity as a thoughtful caretaker and attentive administrator who provides practical resources to meet the needs of foreign guests. In terms of semiotic use and visual design, Hainan’s English homepage seems to position itself between two extremes: Hainan’s Chinese homepage and the Hawaii homepage. The homepage differences can be explained from the standpoint of communication purposes and cultural values. Although all three belong to a pragmatic discourse type, these homepages situate themselves at different points on a continuum. This paper highlights the importance of researching the relationship between cultural specificity and webpage design.</i>

本文以两座岛屿政府的官方主页为研究对象：美属夏威夷（American Hawaii）与中国海南（Chinese Hainan）。基于保韦尔斯（Pauwels，2012）提出的、将网站视为文化表达载体的多模态分析框架（multimodal framework），本研究探究两地主页如何构建身份认同，并以多模态方式将两座岛屿塑造为旅游目的地。

借助富有吸引力的视觉意象、人际性语言选择，以及与社交媒体的互动链接，夏威夷主页将该州的身份塑造为兼具现代化特质与热忱好客氛围的原住民社群。海南官网设有中文与英文两个版本：其中文主页采用官方正式的报刊式呈现风格，通过大量使用非人称符号资源且互动性有限，来彰显其作为省级政府传统行政机构与信息枢纽的身份定位。相较之下，其英文主页则塑造出思虑周全的服务者与细致入微的行政管理者形象，通过提供实用资源以满足境外访客的各类需求。

就符号使用与视觉设计而言，海南英文主页的定位似乎介于两个极端之间：海南中文主页与夏威夷主页。两地主页的差异可从传播目标与文化价值观的视角加以解释。尽管三者均属于实用语篇类型，但各自在语篇连续统上占据了不同的位置。本研究强调了探究文化特异性与网页设计之间关联的重要意义。