Introduction
As an emerging sub–discipline of sociolinguistics, linguistic landscape studies have highlighted unique analytical perspectives on how the presence or absence of languages in a landscape transmits symbolic messages and constructs social identities in public spaces (Shohamy and Gorter Reference Shohamy, Gorter, Shohamy and Gorter2009). Scholars have expanded the notion of landscape by including skinscapes (Peck and Stroud Reference Peck and Stroud2015), smellscapes (Pennycook and Otsuji Reference Pennycook and Otsuji2015), oral linguascapes (Banda and Jimaima Reference Banda and Jimaima2017), multisensory landscapes (Kühne, Koegst, and Edler Reference Kühne, Koegst, Edler, Koegst, Kühne and Edler2023), and so on. This expansion has opened possibilities for fluid and creative interpretation of language towards a much broader consideration of semiotic complexity. This has also led to the semiotic turn of theorizing public signage as a historically, culturally and socially situated practice.
The extant literature on linguistic landscapes has already examined the ideological representations of multilingual signage in a given territory by focusing on its informative and symbolic functions (Landry and Bourhis Reference Landry and Bourhis1997). Most of the current studies on linguistic landscapes seem to be preoccupied with the physical world (Pütz and Mundt Reference Pütz and Mundt2019), though virtualscapes have drawn attention too (Ivkovic and Lotherington Reference Ivkovic and Lotherington2009). In line with scholars who locate semiotic resources at a broader level of discourses (Jaworski and Thurlow Reference Jaworski and Thurlow2010), this study sees video games as semiotic potential through the representational practices they embody. Specifically, the aim of this study is to extend the current scope of linguistic landscape studies to video games, an under–explored but semiotically promising site, for constructing English as a romance register in the virtual space.
Video games as an emerging virtual space of semiotic landscape
Over recent years, scholars have turned their attention to the topic of space (Lefebvre Reference Lefebvre and Nicholson–Smith1991; Kostogriz Reference Kostogriz2006), and some of them have recently focused on the virtual space, especially the virtual space represented in the video games (Li and Hao Reference Li, Hao, Zhu, Feng and Chen2024). Although physical space and virtual space are different in many aspects, it is often assumed that ‘these spaces interact and mutually influence each other’ (Aslesen et al. Reference Aslesen, Martin and Sardo2019, 669). Scholars seek to understand the virtual space and they use the various semiotics as a lens to explore this space and its mechanics in virtual video games (Ferro Reference Ferro2021). The virtual space studies have covered topics such as gender and language in games (Ross et al. Reference Ross, Skelton and Mueller2006; Heritage Reference Heritage2021; Chappetta and Barth Reference Chappetta and Barth2022), game–based learning (Rahimi and Kim Reference Baradaran Rahimi and Kim2023; Sun et al. Reference Sun, Kangas and Ruokamo2024), and (Chinese) culture in virtual space (Jiang and Fung Reference Jiang and Fung2019; Sun Reference Sun, Chen, McAllister and Ruggill2024).
A semiotic approach to video games seeks to analyse the interactions between language and multimodal resources in the virtual world (Ensslin Reference Ensslin, Johnson and Milani2010; Li and Hao Reference Li, Hao, Zhu, Feng and Chen2024). Linguistic and non–linguistic modes operate through video games’ high multimodality and interactive semiotic resources; written texts, speeches, colors, sounds, images, and 3D design are expressive semiotic modes for generating social meanings and projecting value systems across various scales. Video game researchers look at in–game representations through content analysis of different social categories such as language and gender. In terms of language, gaming characters’ accents tend to be associated with their race and socioeconomic status. In Dragon Age: Origins (DAO), for example, a merchant who speaks English with a Spanish accent is stereotyped as someone untrustworthy and alienated (Goorimoorthee et al. Reference Goorimoorthee, Csipo, Carleton, Ensslin, Ensslin and Balteiro2019). In contrast, those who are in high rank and power are given the prestigious dialect of Tolkienesque, medieval fantasy. The use of accents to socially identify speakers is complemented by paralinguistic features such as pitch of voice and body language (Ensslin Reference Ensslin, Johnson and Milani2010). Regarding gender representations, gaming culture tends to have an essentialist understanding of womanhood. Female characters in video games are not only under–represented (Chappetta and Barth Reference Chappetta and Barth2022), but tend to be unimportant, secondary and highly sexualized through the male gaze (Meija and LeSavoy Reference Meija, LeSavoy, Gray, Voorhees and Vossen2018, 98).
Video games are also seen as cultural products that use semiotic features to reinforce or contest the normative ideologies. Video games have been identified as a virtual space for exploring linguistic and gender ideologies but have not often been discussed in relation to China’s booming game industry. Otome games, originally from Japan in the late 1990s, have gained popularity in China, particularly when China expanded the market size of otome mobile games. As a niche market, Chinese otome games have shown great revenue potential, accounting for 25% of the total mobile gaming market (Wu et al. Reference Wu, Cai and Mensah2024). The Chinese video gaming market used to be dominated by male players in a multiplayer online battle arena, yet now there are 600 million gamers in China, and 44.2% are women (Liu and Lai Reference Liu and Lai2022). An increasing number of Chinese otome games are exclusively targeting young women with a romance–themed storyline, feeding Chinese women’s romantic fantasies with fictitious game characters (Wagner and Liang Reference Wagner, Liang, Gilardi and Lam2021).
The booming popularity of Chinese otome games is associated with the social transformations that turn Chinese women into desiring subjects defined by their consumption capacity and desires for romance. Under China’s modernization project since 1978, Chinese women have been encouraged to receive formal education and participate in the workforce. Successful Chinese women in televisions and movies are mostly depicted as economically independent urban white collars (Wallis Reference Wallis2006). In the realm of intimate relationships in China, one’s economic status is playing an increasingly important role in the dating and marriage market (Lin et al. Reference Lin, Wang and Liu2023). So desire is circumscribed by economics. The promotion of modern lifestyle, along with increasing disposable income, creates a space for game products that are tailored to satisfy Chinese women gamers who are encouraged to pursue individualist material, romantic and sexual desire (Liu and Lai Reference Liu and Lai2022). Against this backdrop, the monetization of desire becomes the driving force of the romance–featured gaming industry. In the following section, we will theorize how English and romance get semiotically mediated in Chinese otome games.
English and romance as ideologically constitutive
Before conceptualizing English–mediated romance, we review how English is semiotically represented in various contexts in previous linguistic landscape studies. Due to the established status of English in global non–English speaking countries, an increasingly robust scholarship has examined how the use of English signifies ideological meanings across various settings. In many European countries, for example, the use of English activates symbolic valuation indexing modernity, success, prestige, elitism and cosmopolitan style (Laitinen and Zabrodskaja Reference Laitinen and Zabrodskaja2015). In emerging Asian markets, English is strategically placed to create a branding effect for promoting internationalization and global competitiveness (Lanza and Woldemariam Reference Lanza and Woldemariam2014; Choi at al. Reference Choi, Tatar and Kim2019;), aligning with sophisticated consumption and aesthetics (Chesnut and Curran Reference Chesnut and Curran2022), and performing cosmopolitan style (Li Reference Li2015; Xiao and Lee Reference Xiao and Lee2022;). In the margins of economy, English also enjoys considerable currency as the language of commerce for public and business signs, despite the prevailing top–down policy (McKiernan Reference McKiernan2021). In a rural township in China, English is appropriated in local customers’ pursuit of an exotic and symbolic commodity (Liu and Ma Reference Liu and Chaojun2024). These studies demonstrate that English can evoke various ideological connotations across various scales in different social and political contexts.
While unpacking the ideological implications of English, the affective dimension of English has not been well addressed. Romance as mediated affect in English learning has been discussed in critical sociolinguistic studies (Piller and Takahashi Reference Piller, Takahashi and Pavlenko2006; Takahashi Reference Takahashi2013). For instance, Piller and Takahashi (Reference Piller, Takahashi and Pavlenko2006) conceptualized romance as a social and cultural register, which embodies a bundle of desires for identity transformation and for a mastery of English as a desired language. Their study is situated in the context of the marginalized status of Japanese women and their limited choice of employment opportunities, and English is discursively resold to young women as something modern and sophisticated that can change their life trajectories, so they can exert their agency to choose potential romantic partners and to associate themselves with a desirable Western lifestyle (Piller and Takahashi Reference Piller, Takahashi and Pavlenko2006). Rather than simply being an instrument for pragmatic pursuits, English becomes ‘a site where possible forms of identities and social relations are produced and performed and negotiated’ (Takahashi Reference Takahashi2013, 6).
As a desirable capital, English is advertised by marriage candidates to boost their social status and eligibility for matchmaking opportunities. English as a selling point in intimate scenerios is also reported in a study regarding Shanghai match–matching markets (Zhao and Shen Reference Zhao and Shen2024). English–related backgrounds, particularly education, occupation, and citizenship in an Anglophone world, are ideologically reproduced in Chinese contexts. A similar process of English desire can be spotted in Chinese otome games in which romance and English become semiotically constitutive. Situating English in historical and sociopolitical discourses of China’s market transformation, our study explores two research questions:
1. How do English and other semiotic resources work together to create romance in Chinese otome games?
2. What are the ideological forces governing the process of semiotic appropriation?
Methodology
Two Chinese otome games, Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice and Light and Night were chosen for examining how English serves and constructs the genre of romance in the virtualscape. The games were selected because of their nation–wide popularity with a predominantly female player base and the use of English in relation to romance–featured moments. The two selected otome games have attracted a rapid increase of revenue since their release to the public. The first game was released in China in 2017 as Love & Producer, later translated to English and released globally as Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice in 2019. It is a mobile otome gacha game that has hooked millions of players across the globe, the majority of whom identify as female. The game has attracted a sustained buzz on social media, and it has reached the top spot on the iOS free games ranking. Another game, Light and Night, was released in 2021 by Tencent’s Aurora Studio. It emerged as a dark horse and claimed the top spot in the Chinese mobile otome game revenue chart in 2023.
The researchers collected the data for the use of English in terms of its relation to romance–related semiotic elements, including text, speech, color, image, gesture, facial expression, and other built–in environments. The data analysis consisted of two parts: (1) close–playing (Chang Reference Chang2010), and (2) semiotic analysis of linguistic and non–linguistic modes (Pennycook Reference Pennycook2017). Close–playing requires researchers to act as players to experience, to take notes while playing, to think through the features of a game, namely multimodal artifacts like speech, gesture, image, color, text, music and sound effects, and to reveal how these semiotic modes shed light on the larger social, cultural and economic contexts. In this study, the third author and the fourth author have played the two selected otome games for at least four years, and they are familiar with game design and semiotic modes. When doing research into Chinese otome games, they, as insiders, can help other researchers identify the characteristics of gaming products and their specific content and aesthetic forms for generating associated meanings.
By incorporating ‘the ways languages, people, objects and places come together in temporary, ad hoc assemblages’ (Pennycook Reference Pennycook2017) into video game analysis, the researchers have paid attention to how English and multimodal artifacts work together to construct meanings and social identities. In the coding procedure, the researchers first collected data that could be categorized into ‘identity transformation’, ‘English as symbolic values’, and ‘romance–based desires’. Informed by the representational practices of English as coding power relations (Piller and Takahashi Reference Piller, Takahashi and Pavlenko2006; Takahashi Reference Takahashi2013), the researchers then identified meaningful points from each category and merged the points into two relevant themes, described below. The researchers then placed the themes and their semiotic modes in connection to the broader historical, social and political discourses. Our data analysis moves away from ‘frequency and regularity oriented, pattern–seeking approaches to a focus on spontaneous, impromptu, and momentary actions and performances’ (Li Reference Li2011, 1224). The analysis of the data revealed two major aspects of romance–mediated English: constructing cosmopolitan identities and styling English skills for intimacy. In the discussion that follows, we will consider each of these manifestations in turn.
Findings
Indexing elite cosmopolitan identities
One of the prominent observations in this study is the use of English for constructing elite cosmopolitan identities in Chinese romance simulation games. English–related modes are emplaced in romantic narratives across various recreation activities, shops, menus, drinks, snacks, perfumes, clothes. In the game Love and Light, for example, the English sign ‘Wilderness Killer’ is observed as the name of a sailboat (Figure 1) when the female and male protagonists spend their vacation abroad. In Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice, an English name is also displayed at a British dessert shop (Figure 2) when the protagonists are on a business trip to England.
An English name of a sailboat.
An English shop name.
Many romantic encounters occur in the virtual activities of meeting in stylish cafes, dining out in fancy restaurants, spending holidays in luxury resorts. These experiences indicate people’s cosmopolitan identities, pointing to imaginary consumers, players of otome games, who have the privilege to spend time and money on cosmopolitan experiences in romantic narratives. A similar elitist consumption style can be observed in the following excerpt, in which the female player spends her overseas vacation with a male protagonist. All of the excerpts have been translated by the authors except the English words which are originally from the games are highlighted in bold text (Excerpt 1).
(1) Lu Chen: Now, it is the most beautiful time of the year in Castle Combe. Castle Combe has always been nestled in a small valley in England. Many years ago, when I studied in London, I happened to live in a second–hand bookstore in Castle Combe.
(Narration) How wonderful it is to embrace the slow pace of life, just like now, basking in the sunlight of Castle Combe, where time seems to stretch infinitely before us.
Excerpt from the game Light and Night
Romance–mediated English can be understood in terms of its relation to semiotic materials as assemblages that cater to more than one desire (Pennycook Reference Pennycook2017). In line with the recent attempts to understand the semiotic complexity of linguistic landscape studies (Pennycook Reference Pennycook2017), English is no longer a separate entity but can be conceptualized as an ideological vehicle in which an assemblage of people, places, objects, discourses and other semiotic materials come together in a moment for meaning–making and identity formation. This approach draws attention to the need to move away from a narrow conception of English as a separate system to a broader vision of social semiotics to illuminate the power relations ‘that render some types of knowledges, practices, repertoires, and bodies more legitimate, and therefore more visible’ (Kerfoot and Hyltenstam Reference Kerfoot, Kenneth, Kerfoot and Hyltenstam2017, 5). In this setting, English collaborates with other multimodal resources to convey elitist cosmopolitan aspirations: the reference to places (London, England, Castle Combe) to generate and imagine a sense of global connectedness, and to objects and phenomena (second–hand bookstore, slow pace of life, sunlight) to produce an experience of nostalgic sentiment and a sense of authenticity. These semiotic choices and practices construct romance–mediated English in elite cosmopolitan identities.
In Chinese otome games, English as a romanticized product may seem to be tailored to satisfy female gamers’ desires and empower their participation. However, we would argue that the increasing participation of women in a romance–featured world is still subordinated to material conditions. The fictional cosmopolitan identity of characters in the games is mediated by the marketing mechanism that positions female gamers as neoliberal consumers that are regulated and exploited in the material context of the monetization of our society. The elite cosmopolitan identities are mediated by English–related power and privilege. In these Chinese otome games, English features as a ‘distinction’ (Bourdieu Reference Bourdieu and Nice1984) that is marked out by gaming characters’ possession of certain types of ‘habitus’, socially situated dispositions, through their desirable occupations and luxurious lifestyles that are closely associated with the middle/upper classes. Such representational practice of classed identities in the virtual space is not power–free, but is purposely redefined by China’s profit–driven digital economy. In this sense, English has embodied and materialized the prevalent neoliberal trend, and it also visualizes and even legitimizes the market–oriented commercialization of romance in the context of increasing Chinese digitization (Lin et al. Reference Lin, Wang and Liu2023).
Styling English skills for intimacy
Styling a mastery of English is another romance–based desire in these otome games’ virtualscape. The characters perform with native–like English proficiency on many occasions, delivering sweet dialogue and touching words, such as: ‘Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders’, and ‘I promise I will guard you from all fears. OK, please don’t break my heart’. In such romance narratives, the ideal lovers are constructed as patiently studying English together, skillfully drawing on English resources for intimate expressions, and appropriating poetic literacy in a distinctive way.
For example, romantic partners recite English vocabulary for different high–stakes English tests, including Gaokao (China’s national entrance exam to universities and colleges), College English Test Band 4, College English Test Band 6, Test of English as a Foreign Language, and International English Language Testing System, as indicated in the following figure from the game Light and Night (Figure 3).
Key vocabulary for high–stakes English tests.
The role of male protagonists is to accompany the female player in reciting English words by offering encouraging comments or compliments. It is noted that the selected English words are not ‘sexy phrases’ but are derived from these tests, which are quite important for Chinese English learners. As such, the eagerness for romantic intimacy and the desire for mastering English vocabulary ‘come together’, ‘assembled’ in a particular moment (Pennycook Reference Pennycook2017). Such a semiotic assemblage may shift the indexicality of learning English for instrumental purposes to evoke the desire to learn English for romantic satisfaction.
Apart from companionship, romantic partners are portrayed as skillful in making overt references to classical movies or poems. For instance, in the game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice, Ling Xiao, a postgraduate student, watches a Hollywood movie, Bonnie and Clyde, with the female protagonist. While kissing the protagonist, he recites movie lines in a tender and flirting voice (dubbed by Chinese actor), thereby creating a sexy and seductive sentiment (Excerpt 2).
(2) (Narration) A kiss landed on Ling Xiao’s unguarded lips, causing his fingers to inadvertently press a series of jumbled characters on the keyboard, shattering the once orderly thesis. I leaned against Ling Xiao’s chest, embracing his neck, and ran my fingertips through the strands of hair on his forehead, looking down at him with a hint of satisfaction as he squinted his eyes.
Ling Xiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, his lips curving into a seductive arc.
Ling Xiao: I might as well tell you right off. l ain’t much of a lover boy.
Excerpt from the game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice
In addition to quoting from Hollywood movies as a source of romantic expressions, Shakespearean Sonnets (18, 25, 116 and 130) have been recontextualized to add the air of intimacy. The following setting is where the male protagonist, Li Zeyan, reads Sonnet 130: ‘My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun’, written by William Shakespeare, to the female protagonist before bedtime (Excerpt 3).
(3) Li Zeyan: Do you like this poem? My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun.
Li Zeyan: This is your book. Don’t you know more about its meaning than I do? It means, ‘you, Silly can still make my pulse race.
Excerpt from the game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice
The romantic dialogue reveals the power asymmetries between the male protagonist and the female player; the former acts as a proficient English user and knowledge giver, whereas the latter acts as knowledge receiver who lacks English comprehension. What’s more, addressing the female protagonist as ‘Silly’, may be teasing or caring, and suggests the power asymmetries between male and female. This finding echoes Takahashi’s (Reference Takahashi2013) conclusion that speaking English for self–transformation and empowerment is ideologically structured by gender inequality.
Apart from referencing Shakespearean sonnets, the use of English brings cultural hybridity by using Chinese poems as part of romantic communication. In the game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice, for example, Xu has a date with the female protagonist after a short separation. When they meet each other, Xu Mo recites a passage from the Book of Poetry (诗经 Shijing in Chinese) in a café (Excerpt 4).
(4) The protagonist: As I wanted to send another encouraging text to him, I heard a familiar voice coming from the corner of the café.
Xu Mo: To gather vine goes she. I miss her whom I cannot see. One day seems longer than months three. To gather reed goes she. I miss her whom I cannot see. One day seems long as seasons three. To gather herbs goes she. I miss her whom I cannot see. One day seems longer than years three.
With a gentle and steady tone, he spoke in a soothing manner, and although I didn’t turn around, I felt my heart beating out of sudden. A smile involuntarily graced my lips.
Excerpt from the game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice
The above English translation from the Book of Poetry was quoted from Ji Xianlin, a very famous scholar and translator in modern China. Quoting from these Chinese poems as a vernacular source evokes distinctive identities. The skillful display of Chinese poetic knowledge and English translation conveys the craftsmanship of the romantic partner’s bilingual proficiency. The sophisticated bilingual competence has elevated romantic communication to ‘stylized variants’ in intentional performances of personas and speech events (Järlehed Reference Järlehed2015, 166). The translated English version recognizes and validates the distinction of Chinese poetic literacy to convey symbolic values in semiotic materials.
Our study demonstrates that English is used as a romantic medium for the intimate relationship between female players and male characters in Chinese otome games. However, our research findings have raised serious questions about gender equality. While featuring female characters as central and playable figures, Chinese otome games represent women as playing their gendered role in English. There is an intrinsic power asymmetry in gendered English performance in which female players are portrayed as English listeners and knowledge receivers whereas males are depicted as English speakers and knowledge givers. Such English–mediated intimate scenerios indicate essentialist understandings of gender and romance in East Asia. Traditional gender norms and Confucianist familial values are unchallenged in Chinese otome games, which are originally imported from Japan. As argued by Ganzon (Reference Ganzon and McDonald2017), Japanese otome games reposition women as main figures designed to act as caretakers with their agency revolving around men.
East Asia has replaced USA and Europe to become the largest gaming market. However, a hegemonic paradigm of patriarchal order is not challenged or rejected in this gaming culture. Seeing the huge potential of women’s consumption power, the Chinese gaming industry exploits the patriarchal family system and its constitutive hierarchies between males and females. Our findings resonate with Takahashi’s (Reference Takahashi2013) critique that English–mediated romance may seem to empower women in their pursuit of a desirable boyfriend and cosmopolitan lifestyle, but women’s participation in intimate relationships is largely subjected to the male–defined world of politics. Female players’ active engagement may grant them digital access to romantic relationships in new ways to maximize their heterosexual fantasies, but their participation remains secondary and subordinated in the game sphere.
Conclusion
Drawing on semiotic landscapes, this study has sought to give an account of how English can be understood as a symbolic commodity in Chinese otome games. Our study contributes to the existing literature of linguistic landscape studies by expanding our understanding of the use of English as semiotic repertoires in the increasingly popular female–oriented game sphere. Our findings reveal that the use of English in this genre embodies sophisticated but gendered and asymmetric cosmopolitan and poetic dispositions in romance–mediated virtual space. Such dispositions attract the globally consuming elite class who are assumed to not only have access to world–wide consumption opportunities but who also choose games that feed their desire for cultural and literary distinction.
As a register with a rich history of romantic narratives, English presents a fertile site for sociolinguistic analysis of linguistic landscape studies. Acknowledging the importance of incorporating semiotic resources into the analysis of linguistic landscape studies, our study brings the semioscaping process of English under scrutiny. In the context of increasing Chinese digitization, English as a romanticized product may seem to be tailored to satisfy female gamers’ desires and empower their participation. However, our study demonstrates that the increasing participation of women in a romance–mediated English world is still subordinated to material conditions and the unchallenged patriarchal order. To create a more female–friendly virtual landscape, it would be advisable to address the broader context of social and cultural discourses, and English is undoubtedly an ideal site for future exploration.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics under Grant [No. 2020110925] and [No. 2024971032].
JIA LI, PhD is Professor in the School of Foreign Languages, Yunnan University, Kunming, China. She is the Centre Director for Applied Linguistics and Foreign Linguistics at Yunnan University. She is also a core member of Collaborative Innovation Union for Language Governance Research and Language on the Move. Her research focuses on critical sociolinguistics. Email: jia_li_yunnan@qq.com.
BIN AI, PhD is Professor in the School of Foreign Studies, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China. He obtained his PhD degree from the School of Education, Deakin University, Australia. His research interests focus on language in society and intercultural education. Email: adamaib@outlook.com
HANXIAO SONG is a postgraduate in the School of Foreign Languages, Yunnan University, Kunming, China. Her research interests focus on English education and linguistic landscape studies. Email: smileysoung@163.com
YUBEI HAN is an undergraduate in the School of Foreign Languages, Yunnan University, Kunming, China. Her research interests focus on English education and linguistic landscape studies. Email: 2444931938@qq.com
