A Critical Analysis Of The Christian Science Monitor’s Reports On China-japan Territorial Dispute Over The Diaoyu Islands In2012

Critical linguistics or critical discourse analysis is a linguistic theory born in thelate1970s. Through the critical analysis of the linguistic features of the discourse, aswell as the socio-cultural context in which discourse is produced, critical discourseanalysis aims to unveil the hidden ideologies and power relations behind discourses.This thesis has selected17pieces of news reports on China-Japan territorialdispute over the Diaoyu Islands from the Christian Science Monitor as news samples,and employed the three-dimensional framework for Critical Discourse Analysis putforward by Fairclough and Systemic-functional Linguistics proposed by Halliday asthe theoretical framework of this present thesis. Following the three steps of criticaldiscourse analysis proposed by Fairclough, the present study will process the newssamples from three aspects: text, discourse practice and social practice. At the textuallevel, the thesis is focused on investigating the linguistic features of the selectedsamples with the help of analytical tools of lexical classification and modality; at thediscourse practice level, an intertextual analysis is conducted with the help of themode of speech so as to account for the process of news production; and at the socialpractice level, discourse analysis is conducted in a wider background to explain howdiscourse practice is shaped by the social context.Through the critical analysis of the selected samples, the thesis has arrived atfollowing conclusions that there are ideological inclinations and power relationsbehind the seemingly impartial and objective news discourses, and they aremeticulously embedded in the texts by the journalists through different linguistic tools;the viewpoints and the stances of the journalists are subject to the influence of thesociety; and news discourse is not simple representations of social realities, and it alsoplays an indispensable role in constructing the society. The present study mainly hasthree purposes: first of all, unveil the ideological opinions and power relations hiddenbehind the news discourse; secondly, raise the critical awareness of the readers and toimprove the readers’ critical reading capability so as to help them to resist the ideological manipulation of the media; thirdly, urge American and other Westernmedia to adopt a open and tolerating towards China’s peaceful rise.