| This study conducts a comparative analysis of the attitudinal resources in Chinese and American mediated sports-idol-construction discourse in the framework of the Appraisal Theory. It is aimed at illuminating the similarities and differences in the distribution of appraisal resources in Chinese and American mediated sports-idol-construction discourses at a micro level and then expounding the appraisal strategies employed therein at a macro level.The theoretical model adopted in the study is J. R. Martin’s Appraisal System, which consists of three interacting subsystems:Attitude, Engagement and Graduation. This study, however, focuses mainly on the attitudinal resources in mediated sports-idol-construction discourse, which is generally assumed as the core of Appraisal System. In the current thesis, some Chinese and American mediated idol-construction sample reports are analyzed so that the attitudinal resources are identified. Secondly, based on the statistic analysis, the various appraisal strategies utilized therein to realize the function of sports-idol construction are sorted out, and finally the similarities and dissimilarities in the appraisal resources and strategies employed in Chinese and American mediated sports-idol-construction discourse are summarized on the basis of the comparative analysis and then expound them from the perspective of the Appraisal Theory.The data under discussion consists of 24 mediated news reports about Yao Ming, the most internationally-renowned Chinese basketball player in the past decade. The reports were released by 8 mainstream media agencies respectively in China and America, including newspapers, Radio and TV programs, magazines and websites, with three pieces of news diachronically released by each agency over the past decades. On the basis of the available literature and particularly of the statistical results of the empirical analysis, this study attempts to address the following three research questions:(1) In what patterns are the three subsystems of Attitudinal resources (i.e. Judgment, Affect, and Appreciation) distributed in the sample Chinese and American mediated sports-idol-construction discourse?(2) Are there any diachronic variations in the distribution of various attitudinal resources at the different periods of Yao Ming’s NBA career? (3) What are the similarities and dissimilarities in the appraisal strategies employed by Chinese and American mass media in sports idol construction discourse?The results of the study suggest that firstly, the Chinese mass media use more appraisal resources in mediated sports-idol-construction discourse than the American media, which can be reflected not only in the distribution of attitudinal resources as a whole but also in the utilization of each of the three attitudinal sub-systems. Secondly, Chinese and the American media also differ from each other in their preference for the choices of the three attitudinal sub-categories.The Chinese mass media exhibit a strong preference for encoding Attitude as Judgment while their American counterparts display a strong preference for encoding Attitude as Appreciation. Thirdly, the diachronic comparison of the distribution of positive attitudinal resources in the three periods of Yao Ming’s NBA career indicates that Chinese and American mass media tend to be flexible in appraisal strategies, utilizing positive and negative attitudinal resources tacitly to cater to the expectation of the fans and the needs of the public so as to better "sell" their messages or standpoints. This constitutes the core of mediated sports-idol construction.The current study is assumed to be of great theoretical and practical significance. A systematic study of mediated sports-idol-construction discourse in light of the Appraisal Theory will not only testify the applicability of the Appraisal Theory but also shed light on the writing and understanding of valid mediated sports-idol-construction discourse. |
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