A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Interpersonal Meaning in New-Type Farmers' Agricultural Promotion Short Videos on Douyin

Abstract

This study selects 15 short videos published over the past year by new-type farmers (xin nong ren) on Douyin as research corpus. It adopts systemic functional grammar’s interpersonal meaning theory, visual grammar’s interactive meaning theory, and intersemiotic complementarity theory as analytical framework, using AntConc and ELAN multimodal video analysis software as research tools. This study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine how agricultural promotion short videos construct interpersonal meaning through multimodal resources. The analysis focuses on three aspects, including verbal mode, visual mode, and their synergistic complementarity. According to the findings, in the verbal mode, declarative sentences account for the highest proportion in the mood system. Median-value and low-value modal expressions reach 92.8% in the modality system, which helps present information in a relative neutral and tentative manner and contributes to shaping a credible image of new-type farmers and maintaining audience trust. In the visual mode, demand image, medium close-up and medium shots, horizontal angle, and high-modality color expressions are commonly used. These visual choices effectively reduce the social distance between creators and audiences, support a more equal interpersonal relationship and encourage emotional engagement. In terms of intersemiotic complementarity between verbal and visual modes, attitudinal convergence, attitudinal divergence, and appellative reinforcement can all be observed. Among them, attitudinal convergence occurs most often, where verbal and visual elements work mutually to reinforce interpersonal meaning, improve coherence and optimize the audience’s viewing experience. This study enriches empirical research on multimodal discourse analysis in the context of agricultural promotion short videos, and provides implications for the interactive design and content production of such videos.