Discourse Construction On National Identity

The Olympic Games,as a global media event,has been an important way of expression for national identity and national image;The mass media construct the audience's cognition through media discourse practise and provide a technical means for imaginative community construction--nation.Based on social identity theory,this study sets out to explore how mainstream media in Hongkong and Taiwan construct their media discourse about the Chinese nation in 2016 Rio Olympic Games with mixed methods of Critical Discourse Analysis and Content Analysis.To put it more concrete,this research revealed the media discourse construction strategies of Hongkong and Taiwan media through quantitative content analysis,rhetoric and intertextuality analysis of news texts on a micro level,and editorial analysis on a macro level.The study finds out that Hongkong and Taiwan media has strong local identity;Taiwan,in particular,almost has no identity towards the Chinese nation.On discourse construction,firstly,media portrayed sportsman as “national heroes” or“soldiers”,making them a media of nationalism;secondly,media created a family union atmosphere and connected it to concepts of nation and country;finally,media inspired audience's sense of national pride and identity by ritualizing the communication process,outlining a news picture of “We” and “They”to audience psychologically.