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A Critical Discourse Analysis of Resistance to Climate Change in China’s English-Language News Media

  • Yating YU
  • , Mark NARTEY
  • , Jieyu CHEN*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

Abstract

Climate change has become a global issue, but no study has examined the discursive construction of resistance to climate change as part of crisis response in the media. To fill this gap, this study employs Wodak’s discourse-historical approach to examine 82 news articles collected from China’s English-language news media. The analysis reveals three themes used in the construction of a discourse of resistance to climate change: (1) climate change as a global enemy, (2) China as a leading climate change fighter, and (3) other nations as China’s allies in the fight. These themes are articulated in the news stories using discursive strategies such as nomination, predication, argumentation, and mitigation. The article sheds light on the language state-run news media uses to project China’s image abroad and encourage international collaboration and action in the fight against climate change. It also illustrates how discourse analysis can illuminate the geopolitical and sociocultural dimensions of climate change.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)579-596
Number of pages18
JournalAsian Studies Review
Volume48
Issue number3
Early online date30 Oct 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Asian Studies Association of Australia.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

  • China
  • China’s English-language news media
  • climate change
  • discourse of resistance
  • discourse-historical approach

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