A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Editorials Of People’s Daily (1966-1971) From A Cognitive Perspective

This research targets at a critical discourse analysis of the editorials of People’s Daily in the first five years (1966—1971) of the Cultural Revolution (CR) from a cognitive linguistic perspective, describing their linguistic features on the levels of lexicon, syntax and discourse, depicting the discourse world constructed on these levels, and investigating how this discourse world constrains readers’perception of the social reality.The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the122editorials from the year1966to1971leads to the following findings:On the lexical level, the editorials’ major high frequency content words (noun, verb, adjective and adverb) help to construct a discourse world which is composed of two conflicting categories, i.e. the proletarian and the bourgeois, fighting against each other as if on a huge battlefield. Readers’awareness of class struggle is raised and enhanced as a result.On the syntactic level, a noticing feature is the high frequency of imperative sentences and quotations. Imperative sentences help to build up an attitudinal sub-world which sets up a goal for the discourse world to pursue and a series of regulations that readers must follow. Quotations help to construct an epistemic sub-world which controls and restricts the discourse world and imposes the leader’s (Chairman Mao) perspective on readers as the orthodox understanding of the reality.On the discourse level, the editorials present a "three-section structure" which conveys the following main theme:the future is bright while the social crisis is serious, thus the proletariat must continue the class struggle. This three-section structure represents the discourse world as a split and contradictory space, half bright and half dark, and further strengthens readers’faith in class struggle.Finally, the frequently used event structure spatial metaphors map the structure of space onto the discourse world characterized by the shape contrast between the proletarian and the bourgeois in their political stances, routes for development and the futures lying ahead, which further magnifies class conflict in all the social domains. As a cognitive framework, this discourse world implants the mainstream ideology into readers" minds and helps to transform the masses into a paranoid, aggressive and destructive force.The research attempts to explain the link between the CR language, the CR thinking and the CR political hegemony, and uncover how the CR language helps to shape people’s mind and construct an absurd reality. This, hopefully, will encourage people to reflect upon the Cultural Revolution and its many-folded influences on individuals and the society from a linguistic point of view, and advocate a rational and human discourse to construct social reality and to establish a social order of justice and harmony.