The Institutional Power In Talk Shows

Talk show programs are becoming increasingly popular in China that it has become such a striking cultural phenomenon penetrating people's daily life that deserve an analysis from both linguistic and social perspectives. Authorized by this reason, the present study analyzes the talk shows from the perspective of power within the theoretical framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).In the present study, the linguistic feature of turn-taking and its dialectical relations with institutional power of talk shows are investigated based on two talk show programs collected. We found that though the power relations in talk shows is institutionally-determined asymmetrical, it is not unilateral; the institutional power is simultaneously negotiable between the show host and the show guest; and the cultural consequences of marketization and commodification have brought on diversified manifestation of institutional power in talk shows, which can be overt and also covert.Our research assumes the following significance that first the linguistic strategies coming out of the research are expected to be kind of strategies employed by the show host when they make the program, and hopefully, the talk show programs in China will be appealing and of higher quality; second it will provide a general understanding of Chinese talk show program and also a reference for further relevant researches. Finally as a research conducted on talk show in the area of CDA it is supposed to contribute to the CDA studies and the theoretical study of language at large.