The Representation of Malaysian Cultures in Tourism Brochures

Abstract

Malaysian tourism is a fast growing industry and this is the result of aggressive promotional activities by Malaysian Tourism Board. Having realised the importance of tourism industry in Malaysia, this paper aims to discuss the ways in which linguistic and non-linguistic modes are juxtaposed in representing Malaysian cultures. Malaysian tourism brochures featuring Penang, Malacca and Sarawak were analysed using multimodal discourse framework. The linguistic cues and visual images that portray Malaysian cultures were determined. The findings of this study show that there are five cultural elements represented in Malaysian tourism brochures. The cultural elements are people, festivals, traditional lifestyles, traditional music and traditional games. These cultural elements are signaled by specific linguistic cues and visual images.