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China–Africa Language and Cultural Exchange
  • ISSN: 2040-199X
  • E-ISSN: 1751-7974
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Abstract

This study explores how Egyptian audiences interpret Sino-Egyptian cultural content in livestreams featuring imperial tomb symbolism from both Egypt and China. Using Hall’s encoding/decoding model, this article examines how viewers negotiate meaning, compare traditions and construct cultural understanding in a digital, cross-cultural setting. Data were collected in 2025 through written interviews, participant observation and digital trace analysis among Egyptian learners of Chinese. Results show that audiences actively identified both shared themes – especially beliefs about the afterlife – and cultural distinctions, such as Egypt’s emphasis on individual immortality vs. China’s focus on lineage and social continuity. Viewers used comparative strategies to map similarities, build equivalences and deepen interpretation. Interactive livestream features such as chat, Q&A and visual presentations encouraged collaborative meaning-making and interpretive community formation. Overall, the study demonstrates how digital media can enable reflective, participatory engagement with cultural heritage and highlights the active role of audiences in shaping cross-cultural understanding.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • 2023 Major Project of International Chinese Education Research ‘Research on the cultivation of local Chinese teachers serving the improvement of the dissemination and influence of Chinese culture’ (Award 23YH08A)
  • 2023 National Social Science Fund Project of China ‘Research on the international communication effect of original video content of “China stories” by mainstream media’ (Award 23BXW091)
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Intellect Ltd.
This article is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The CC BY licence permits commercial and noncommercial reuse. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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2026-03-31
2026-04-15

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/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00147_1
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Encoding/decoding in Sino-Egyptian cross-cultural dialogue: Egyptian reception of a livestream on imperial tomb symbolism
Journal of African Media Studies 17, 255 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00147_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00147_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00147_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): digital ethnography; digital heritage; intercultural dialogue; interpretive communities; media effects; Sino-African relations; social media engagement; Stuart Hall

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