A Discourse Study on the Construction of Bride and Groom Identity in Chinese Weddings

Abstract

This study examines the relevance, objectives, methods, content, and outcomes of identity construction for newlyweds in Chinese weddings. The wedding speech, as a crucial part of the ceremony, is not only a significant moment for the couple to express their feelings and convey their commitment but also an important platform for identity construction. This paper aims to explore how newlyweds in Chinese weddings construct their marital, family, and social ident ities through speeches, thereby enhancing understanding of identity construction issues within the context of Eastern culture. The research focuses on analyzing the speech acts of newlyweds in wedding speeches to reveal their strategies and categories of i dentity construction. To achieve this goal, the study employs a bottom up approach, collecting and systematically analyzing large amounts of data from popular short video and audio visual platforms (TikTok, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili). The content covers mutual support and shared growth in constructing marital identity, the emphasis on responsibility and harmony in buildi ng family identity, and the manifestation of professional characteristics a nd social roles in constructing social identity. The results show th at newlyweds primarily construct their multiple identities through expressing gratitude, making commitments, envisioning the future, balancing relationships, and establishing commitments, envisioning the future, balancing relationships, and establishing social roles. These identity construction strategies not only strengthen the social roles. These identity construction strategies not only strengthen the emotemotional bond between the couple but also promote interaction and empathy with ional bond between the couple but also promote interaction and empathy with family and friends. The contribution of this paper is to provide a new perspective family and friends. The contribution of this paper is to provide a new perspective and method for the study of identity construction in Chinese weddings, which is of and method for the study of identity construction in Chinese weddings, which is of great significgreat significance for understanding wedding speeches and identity construction ance for understanding wedding speeches and identity construction under the background of Oriental culture, it also provides new empirical support under the background of Oriental culture, it also provides new empirical support for crossfor cross--cultural communication and linguistic research.cultural communication and linguistic research.