Exploring Image Work in Chinese Communication

This edited book provides a reasonably systematic picture of image work in the context of contemporary Chinese society. It distinguishes itself by demonstrating how Chinese people perform various types of image work discursively to achieve transactional or interactional goals. Included are a collection of empirical studies concerning image construction and its functions among people such as doctors, celebrities, advertisers, medical consultants, and officials in Chinese society. The findings of these studies may contribute to existing scholarship on image research in general and dynamic discursive approaches to image in particular. Furthermore, it will conduce to an interpersonal pragmatic portrayal of Chinese society and its way of communication.