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Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science

ISSN Online: 2576-0548 ISSN Print: 2576-0556 CODEN: JHASAY
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ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.04.019

A Comparative Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Localization and Internationalization in City Image Construction in China and Myanmar

Haijian Dan*, Zay Nyein Htun

School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China.

*Corresponding author: Haijian Dan

Published: April 30, 2026

Abstract

Against the backdrop of globalization, city image construction relies increasingly on the balanced integration of localization and internationalization for global communication and cultural competitiveness. This study takes Wuhan and Yangon as case cities to conduct a comparative multimodal discourse analysis, aiming to explore how verbal and visual semiotic resources construct urban tourism images under the dual frameworks of localization and internationalization. Adopting a qualitative research design, this study integrates multimodal discourse analysis, systemic functional linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and visual grammar to analyze 200 English tourism news articles and related visual materi-als from 2016 to 2026. Data processing adopts corpus-based descriptive analysis and visual structure classification. Analytical results show that Wuhan constructs an urban image through a modernization-led integration model, which combines localized cultural symbols with modern and international expressions to balance localization and internationalization. Yangon forms a culture-led authenticity model that takes religious and ethnic localized resources as core attractions and supports international tourism appeal through cultural authenticity rather than modern development. Verbal data indicate that relational processes dominate in discourses of both cities, while lexical choices and semantic fields differ significantly in emphasizing modernization or cultural heritage. Visual data indicate that Wuhan uses standardized international visual design to promote localized symbols, and Yangon retains natural and authentic visual styles to highlight cultural uniqueness. This study contributes to understanding how cities balance localization and internationalization in tourism discourse, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for urban branding and sustainable tourism.

Keyword

Multimodal Discourse; Localization; Internationalization; City Image; Tourism Discourse

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Copyright

© 2026 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

How to cite this paper

A Comparative Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Localization and Internationalization in City Image Construction in China and Myanmar

How to cite this paper: Haijian Dan, Zay Nyein Htun. (2026) A Comparative Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Localization and Internationalization in City Image Construction in China and Myanmar. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science10(4), 513-517.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.04.019