A Study on the Image Discourse Construction of Chinese “Double First-Class” Universities on TikTok: Centering on a Postcolonial Perspective

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Against the backdrop of global higher education being increasingly shaped by Western-dominated ranking systems, English linguistic hegemony, and visual communication paradigms, Chinese “Double First-Class” universities are attempting to engage directly with global audiences through international social media platforms such as TikTok, thereby constructing cross-cultural identities through discourse. However, this communicative practice is not merely a technical operation; rather, it is deeply embedded within a network of postcolonial power relations. These universities must conform to Western-dominated discursive norms in order to obtain academic legitimacy, while simultaneously facing the risk that their cultural subjectivity may be diluted or dissolved. Taking postcolonial theory as its central analytical perspective, this study integrates three sets of conceptual tools: Edward Said’s “Orientalism,” Homi K. Bhabha’s “mimicry” and “hybridity,” and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s “strategic essentialism.” Employing Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), the study conducts a systematic two-stage analysis of 1,071 TikTok videos and 25,019 user comments posted between January 2024 and January 2026 by four Chinese “Double First-Class” universities: Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Zhejiang University. The study finds that the discursive practices of the four universities revolve around five major narrative themes: “everyday life and warmth” (24.3%), “openness and integration” (21.9%), “excellence and frontier innovation” (21.0%), “heritage and cultural depth” (19.3%), and “responsibility and mission” (13.3%). Among these, affective narratives account for the highest proportion, while social responsibility narratives account for the lowest and systematically receive lower engagement rates than culturally spectacular content. Viewed through the lens of postcolonial theory, the universities’ discursive practices display a threefold dialectical tension. In the dimension of mimicry, the four universities demonstrate extensive strategic convergence with Western discursive paradigms in terms of visual style, narrative templates, and language choice. Yet this convergence is consistently accompanied by “designed différance,” a semi-conscious micro-strategy of embedding cultural symbols within globally recognizable codes. In the dimension of Orientalism, cultural representation is distributed along a spectrum between “self-Orientalism” and “strategic essentialism,” with Zhejiang University’s “two-stage narrative”—a cultural-spectacle entry point followed by a scientific turn—representing the most successful practice of strategic essentialism. In the dimension of hybridity, the emerging university identity contains five discernible components, including a dual subject position as both “global citizen” and “cultural inheritor.” Nevertheless, the four universities exhibit significant differences in their paths of identity construction, ranging from Tsinghua University’s conservative and stable model, to Peking University’s high-tension experimental model, Zhejiang University’s methodologically self-conscious model, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s strategy of omission. This study proposes three theoretical concepts. First, building on prior studies by Kotliar (2020), Mahoney (2022), and others, “algorithmic Orientalism” reveals how the self-Orientalist performances of non-Western subjects on Western platforms may be selectively amplified by recommendation algorithms, forming a positive feedback loop of “self-Orientalism—algorithmic preference—traffic incentive.” Second, “designed différance” revises mimicry from an unconscious contradictory practice into a semi-conscious cultural strategy. Third, “proxy rebuttal” identifies an indirect form of discursive resistance spontaneously initiated by international students and alumni without relying on institutional authorization. Overall, this study characterizes the TikTok discursive practices of Chinese “Double First-Class” universities as a “constrained experiment in hybridity.” The dialectical tension between structural constraints and the operation of agency constitutes its core feature. This dialectical transitionality itself may be a normal condition of contemporary postcolonial contexts.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• CHAPTER 1. Introduction 1
• 1.1 Research Background and Current Situation 1
• 1.2 Significance of the Study 5
• 1.3 Necessity of the Study 7
• 1.4 Research Objectives 9
• 1.5 Research Questions 9
• 1.5.1 Dimension of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (RQ1) 9
• 1.5.2 Dimension of Postcolonial Theory (RQ2) 10
• CHAPTER 2. Literature Review and Theoretical Foundations 11
• 2.1 Research on Higher Education Internationalization and Digital Communication 12
• 2.1.1 The Critical Turn in Higher Education Internationalization 12
• 2.1.2 Research on Digital Branding Communication of Universities 15
• 2.1.3 TikTok as a Platform and Cultural Politics 16
• 2.2 Research on Identity Reconstruction and Image Discourse Construction 18
• 2.2.1 Identity Reconstruction in Postcolonial Contexts 18
• 2.2.2 Research on Image Discourse Construction 20
• 2.2.3 Internationalized Digital Discourse of Chinese Universities 22
• 2.3 Theoretical Foundations of Postcolonialism 25
• 2.3.1 Orientalism and the “Center–Periphery” Structure 26
• 2.3.2 Mimicry, Hybridity, and the Third Space 28
• 2.3.3 Subaltern Speech and Strategic Essentialism 30
• 2.3.4 The Legitimacy and Boundaries of Applying Postcolonial Theory to the Chinese Context 32
• 2.4 Analytical Framework of This Study 35
• CHAPTER 3. Research Design 36
• 3.1 Research Paradigm and Approach 37
• 3.1.1 Critical Research Paradigm 37
• 3.1.2 Abductive Research Approach 39
• 3.2 Research Strategy and Case Selection 40
• 3.2.1 Qualitative Multiple-Case Study Design 40
• 3.2.2 Case Selection Criteria 41
• 3.2.3 Research Subjects 43
• 3.3 Data Collection and Corpus Construction 49
• 3.3.1 Core Data: Multimodal Video Texts 49
• 3.3.2 Auxiliary Data: User Interaction and Textual Information 49
• 3.3.3 Construction of the Data Corpus 50
• 3.4 Data Analysis Framework 55
• 3.4.1 Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis 55
• 3.4.2 Stage One: Description of Discursive Features and Evaluation of Communicative Effectiveness 58
• 3.4.3 Stage Two: Deconstruction of Power Relations and Interpretation of Identity 60
• 3.5 Ensuring Research Quality 63
• 3.5.1 Credibility and Transferability 63
• 3.5.2 Dependability and Confirmability 64
• 3.6 Research Ethics 65
• 3.6.1 Ethical Considerations 65
• 3.7 Chapter Summary 68
• CHAPTER 4. Description of Multimodal Discursive Features and Evaluation of Communicative Effectiveness 68
• 4.1 Overall Overview of the Data Corpus 70
• 4.1.1 Corpus Size and Basic Composition 70
• 4.1.2 Differentiated Operational Profiles of the Four University Accounts 72
• 4.2 Identification and Typology of Narrative Themes 75
• 4.2.1 Coding Process and Theme Generation 75
• 4.2.2 Five Core Narrative Themes 76
• 4.2.3 Cross-Case Comparison of Narrative Themes 87
• 4.3 Systematic Analysis of Multimodal Rhetorical Strategies 89
• 4.3.1 Visual Rhetoric: Camera Language, Color Composition, and Spatial Narrative 89
• 4.3.2 Auditory Rhetoric: Music Selection, Sound Design, and Language Strategy 92
• 4.3.3 Use of Platform-Specific Symbols 95
• 4.4 Evaluation of Communicative Effectiveness and Structural Limitations 109
• 4.4.1 Quantitative Evaluation of Communicative Effectiveness 109
• 4.4.2 Qualitative Analysis of User Comments 111
• 4.4.3 Systematic Identification of Structural Limitations 117
• 4.4.4 Preliminary Conclusions on Communicative Effectiveness 120
• 4.5 Chapter Summary 122
• CHAPTER 5. Deconstruction of Power Relations and Interpretation of Identity 123
• 5.1 Deconstructing the Strategy of “Mimicry”: Between Imitation and Subversion 124
• 5.1.1 Visual Mimicry: Learning and Reproducing the Visual Grammar of the “World-Class” University 124
• 5.1.2 Narrative Mimicry: From “Global Citizens” to “Residents of the Third Space” 127
• 5.1.3 Mimicry in Value Declarations: Confirming and Loosening English Hegemony 129
• 5.1.4 A Dialectical Summary of Mimicry: Subversive Potential within Strategic Convergence 130
• 5.2 The Dialectic between the Orientalist Gaze and “Strategic Essentialism” 131
• 5.2.1 Discursive Traces of “Self-Orientalism” 131
• 5.2.2 Empowering Practices of “Strategic Essentialism” 133
• 5.2.3 A Postcolonial Re-reading of “Window-Display Exhibition” and “Immersive Experience” 135
• 5.3 Dynamic Construction of “Hybrid” Identity and the Possibility of the Third Space 137
• 5.3.1 Creative Stitching of Heterogeneous Elements 137
• 5.3.2 Internal Tensions of Hybrid Identity 139
• 5.3.3 Opening the Third Space: Partial Achievements and Structural Constraints 140
• 5.4 Identity Negotiation in User Interaction: Power Dynamics in a Polyphonic Discursive Field 142
• 5.4.1 The Comment Section as a “Micro Discursive Battlefield” 143
• 5.4.2 “Proxy Rebuttal” and Indirect Discursive Resistance 144
• 5.4.3 Reproducing the “Center” through Comparative Reference 146
• 5.5 Chapter Summary 147
• CHAPTER 6. Integrated Discussion 151
• 6.1 Integrating Cross-Dimensional Findings: A Continuous Interpretation from Discursive Representation to Power Operation 152
• 6.1.1 The Power Topology of the “Five Narrative Themes” 152
• 6.1.2 The Power Dialectics of the “Dual-Modal Visual Strategy” 154
• 6.1.3 A Structural Interpretation of the “Communicative Effectiveness Paradox” 155
• 6.2 Systematic Dialogue with Existing Literature 156
• 6.2.1 Deepening Critical Research on Higher Education Internationalization 156
• 6.2.2 Digital Expansion of Postcolonial Theory 157
• 6.2.3 Paradigmatic Expansion of Research on University Digital Communication 158
• 6.2.4 Reflexive Supplement to Research on China’s International Communication 160
• 6.3 Refining Theoretical Contributions 160
• 6.3.1 “Constrained Hybridity”: An Integrative Theoretical Concept 161
• 6.3.2 “Algorithmic Orientalism”: Extending Postcolonial Theory into the Technological Dimension 162
• 6.3.3 “Referential Subordination” and “Proxy Rebuttal”: Conceptualizing Micro-Level Power Dynamics 164
• 6.4 Reflexive Review of the Analytical Framework 164
• CHAPTER 7. Conclusion and Prospects 165
• 7.1 Condensed Responses to Core Findings 166
• 7.1.1 Response to RQ1 166
• 7.1.2 Response to RQ2 167
• 7.2 Theoretical Contributions 168
• 7.3 Practical Implications 169
• 7.3.1 Implications for Universities’ International Communication Strategies 169
• 7.3.2 Implications for Education Policymakers 171
• 7.4 Research Limitations 172
• 7.5 Future Research Directions 174
• References 177