Reconstructing History and Culture in Game Discourse: A Linguistic Analysis of Heroic Stories in Honor of Kings

Abstract

Honor of Kings (HOK) is currently the most popular yet controversial mobile game in China. It is deeply inspired by Chinese history and culture, while its heroic backstories have been criticized for potential distortion of historical views. Drawing upon Systemic Functional Linguistics, this study explores the reconstruction in ideational and interpersonal meanings through comparing heroic stories with historical accounts. It reveals that HOK game stories have (1) significantly reconstructed activity processes while largely preserved spatial circumstances; (2) partly fabricated social relationships among characters, which result in the distortion of historical timeline; (3) retained core judgements on characters. It further explains how the reconstruction of heroic stories is embedded in the social context of game discourse, as far as entertainment, sociality, and cultural identity are concerned. The findings may shed light on discourse semantic interpretation in game studies and provide pertinent suggestions for future in-game story writing.