Contemporary Chinese Discourse And Social Practice In China

Significant socio-political changes in China have had great impact on Chinese discourse. Changes to the discourse have become an increasing focus of scholarship. This book examines contemporary Chinese discourse and social practice in China with a focus on the role that language plays in the on-going transformation of Chinese society. With a view to producing new insights into the interdependence between discourse and social practice, this volume explores how discourse has been changing in a context-dependent way; how social practice can lead to shifts in the use of discourse; and how identities and attitudes are constructed through language use. Largely based on empirical studies, this book indicates that Chinese discourse has not only been an integral part of social change, but also Chinese discourse itself is changing, reflecting ideologies, values, attitudes, identities and social practice. The book is a great resource for scholars in diverse disciplinary studies including linguistics, communication, education, media and political studies concerning contemporary China.

China’s opening up to the West, its extraordinary economic rise, and the subsequent internal and global issues, are an object of huge interest and concern. Discourse and Socio-political Transformations in Contemporary China focuses on one aspect of the contemporary Chinese phenomenon, one that is so obvious that it is generally ignored in the mainstream academic departments – that politics, society and transformation are the product of myriad collective linguistic interchanges, some stabilized, some competing, some agonistic, some new and emerging. As an outcome of dialogue between Chinese and Western scholars, the present volume contains case studies that offer a survey of the discourse aspect of Chinese society in social stratification, government service, policy consultancy, higher education, foreign policy, and TV. The conceptual reflections on discourse and critique in different cultures offer new considerations for discourse analysis, including critical discourse analysis, in the context of Chinese society today. This volume was originally published as a special issue of Journal of Language and Politics 9:4 (2010).

Chinese Discourse Studies presents an innovative and systematic approach to discourse and communication in contemporary China. Incorporating Chinese philosophy and theory, it offers not only a distinct cultural paradigm in the field, but also a culturally sensitive and effective tool for studying Chinese discourses.

After three and a half decades of economic reforms, radical changes have occurred in all aspects of life in China. In an authoritarian society, these changes are mediated significantly through the power of language, carefully controlled by the political elites. Discourse, as a way of speaking and doing things, has become an indispensable instrument for the authority to manage a fluid, increasingly fragmented, but highly dynamic and yet fragile society. Written by an international team of leading scholars, this volume examines socio-political transformations of contemporary Chinese society through a systematic account, analysis and assessment of its salient discourses and their production, circulation, negotiation, and consequences. In particular, the volume focuses on the interplay of politics and media. The book’s intended readership is academics and students of Chinese studies, language and discourse, and media and communication studies.

The essays in Discourses of Cultural China in the Globalizing Age examine the discourses of Cultural China from a glocalization perspective, and attempt to understand contemporary Cultural China by recording, describing and explaining its current discourses. The book also analyses how the interpretation of Cultural China is connected with its past and how its discourses are reconstructed with those of other cultures in the age of accelerated globalization. The chapters here provide fresh empirical data and thought-provoking assessments of current discursive patterns in the Greater China region. This book is the second title in the Studying Multicultural Discourses series, which promotes a new, multiculturalist orientation in discourse studies. Discourses of Cultural China in the Globalizing Age is ideal for students, researchers, and scholars who would like to know more about the discursive practice and changes in one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.

Aspirational and expanding, this book examines contemporary Chinese language and discourse across a spectrum of linguistic layers and genres in diverse social contexts. Addressing issues ranging from the usual focus on language per se, or language use in reaction to the immediate settings, to the connections between properties of texts and social practices (ideologies, stancetaking, power relations, etc.), the updated and exemplary research projects presented in the volume demonstrates a developing trajectory of research in Chinese language and discourse. With its empirical focus and stress on the role of language and discourse in social practice, this important new book discusses various language features as well as gender, stancetaking, and identity in Chinese discourse. This is a vital discussion for anyone interested in contemporary Chinese language and discourse studies. In examination of different layers of language (i.e. from lexical items and sentence structures to discourse features and discursive practices) across different genres of texts, the research projects have drawn on a variety of linguistic approaches and methodologies, including functional linguistics, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and various approaches to discourse analysis. Researchers and students of Chinese linguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse studies, translation studies, and China studies in general will find this volume an indispensable reference and an enjoyable read.

China's Contemporary Image and Rhetoric Practice presents an overview of Chinese diplomatic rhetoric, exploring how the image of China is depicted through a Western lens and introducing a profound shift in domestic perspectives of this image. This reader reveals new sites for Chinese rhetoric to deepen scholarship in the relevant studies of Chinese literature, Chinese discourse analysis, Chinese sociology, Chinese politics and so on. These chapters have been cherry-picked for their contributions to the field, and may facilitate the expanding development of Chinese studies. This book is a valuable reference for scholars, researchers and graduate or postgraduate students in Chinese linguistic and social studies.

Migrant workers and public media in China - Media discourse analysis from a sociolinguistic perspective - Newspaper representation of migrant workers in China's newspapers - White-collar migrant workers in public media - Construction of migrant workers' identities on a TV talk show - Media representation and practice in Chinese contexts