A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Spatialized Power In Traditional Chinese Courtroom

Disciplinary power is meant to shape obedient bodies and docile minds through various means such as hierarchical observation,where space works as a very important carrier.Power in courtroom,a disciplinary institution for judicial adjudication,is fully manifested in its spatial structure.Previous studies on courtroom discourse have disclosed,in various aspects of the verbal communication,the realization of the asymmetrical power relationship between judges and other participants in the trial,with little attention focused on the restraints on judges' power in courtroom,however.This thesis endeavors to discuss the spatial realization of disciplinary power in traditional Chinese courtroom and its restraints on judges' discourse power.Drawing upon Foucault's power-space theory,this thesis adopts the systemic functional semiotic approach to multimodal discourse analysis to analyze the spatialized power in the courtrooms of Neixiang Yamen.Through a metafunctional analysis of the spatial texts in Neixiang Yamen,this thesis uncovers the multimodal representation of disciplinary power in traditional Chinese courtroom.Elaborating,extending and intensifying mutually,visual images(e.g.screen paintings)and written texts(e.g.couplet writings)work together to highlight the core judiciary values in Chinese feudal period,guiding and regulating judges'legal ideology and trial behaviors imperceptibly.In respect to spatial composition,these visual displays have transformed the traditional Chinese courtroom into a Foucauldian panopticon,where they serve as "the eyes of power" to surveil and discipline judges' trial behaviors,and consequently judges become self-monitored and self-disciplined under the perpetual gaze.In addition,an in-depth multimodal discourse analysis of a simulated trial session in Neixiang Yamen provides support for the disciplinary power over judges in action.It is proved in this thesis that judges,the dominating power of jurisdiction,are also empowered by the disciplinary power,which de-constructs judges' dominance in courtroom discourse and would bring us closer to the myth of judges' identity in China.