National Consciousness And Identity Construction

Guangxi's ethnic work in early days has been getting a lot of attention by domestic and foreign academic studies.Because of the particularity of local social development and the complexity of ethnic relations,it is difficult for a single disciplinary perspective to present the whole picture of ethnic work in Guangxi in this period.The purpose of this study is to explore the interaction between minorities and society from the perspective of media.Guangxi Daily,as an organ of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and an important large comprehensive newspaper,its reporting activities are closely related to the ethnic practice in Guangxi.Researcher takes the Liberation of Guangxi in 1949 and the establishment of the Zhuang people autonomous region in 1958 as the nodes,selects the media texts of Guangxi Daily from 1950 to 1958 to make a diachronic analysis for reappearing important ethnic practices as the investigation of ethnic society,the popularization of Zhuang Wen,and the establishment of ethnic autonomous regions in Guangxi.This study attempts to answer the following questions:First,from 1950 to 1958,how did Guangxi Daily report on ethnic groups?What kind of discourse practice did it present?Second,what role did Guangxi Daily play in the construction of Zhuang people's identity consciousness?What changes have been made in the reporting framework and discourse practice in different periods?Third,how did the media practice of Guangxi Daily interact with the ethnic work practice in Guangxi?Based on Fairclough's theory of discourse analysis,the researcher combs the text from three dimensions:texts,media discourses and social practice.The study finds that Guangxi Daily from 1950 to 1958 presents three dimensions of practice:identity discourse,development discourse and propaganda discourse.First of all,identity discourse refers to Guangxi Daily's report on the identity of ethnic minorities.It is found that the description of ethnic identity in Guangxi Daily has changed from mold to clarity,which is closely related to the progress of ethnic work in Guangxi.From 1950 to 1952,the ethnic composition of Guangxi was not distinct.Guangxi Daily used ambiguous reporting strategy,did not emphasize the identity and subjectivity of all ethnic groups,but tended to mold them as "beneficiaries" to emphasize national unity and support the nation-building.Since 1953,with the development of ethnic investigation and other work,the ethnic report of Guangxi Daily has been more in-depth and specific,covering cultural,historical and other aspects,and strengthening the identity of ethnic groups.Secondly,the development discourse refers to the report of Guangxi Daily on the social construction of ethnic minorities.In terms of the quantity and duration of the reports,the development discourse is always an important part of the ethnic reports,but the emphases of the reports vary in different periods.From 1950 to 1953,Guangxi Daily called on the masses to produce disaster relief,suppress bandits and consolidate political power;from 1954 to 1956,it emphasized mutual assistance among ethnic groups in order to develop and bridge ethnic differences;and from 1957 to 1958,it mobilized the people to take an active part in political movements.Finally,the propaganda discourse refers to the mobilization report of Guangxi daily on ethnic work,which is focused on the creation and implementation of the topics such as Zhuang Wen,ethnic regional autonomy and so on.Before 1957,Guangxi Daily mainly propagandized the realistic significance of ethnic work from the political,cultural and historical perspectives.After 1957,Guangxi Daily's discourse on ethnic report have concentrated their efforts on publicizing the achievements of development in various places.Generally speaking,the three discourses mentioned above do not exist independently in a specific historical period,but present in a mixed way.From the perspective of national power construction,we can find that Guangxi Daily keeps close interaction with society and politics.The interweaving and vicissitude of media discourse reflected the historical process of Guangxi's ethnic relations,social development and the vicissitude of ethnic system.The nation-led practice led Guangxi Daily to carry on the specific discourse production.Politics and the media jointly dominated the formation of the multi-ethnic concept.With 1952 as the turning point and 1958 as the boundary,Zhuang people gradually became a formal identity in the public through the development of various ethnic works.And the continuous reports continued to strengthen the ethnic identity.The coverage of Guangxi Daily has gradually expanded from individual ethnic groups and areas to the whole province and all ethnic groups.The topic of the report extends from the development of ethnic areas to the political,economic,cultural and ethnic relations.From the perspective of social utility,Guangxi Daily can be regarded as the intermediary of Guangxi society,which promotes the integration of Guangxi ethnic concept from single region to the whole region through specific discourse strategies.In addition,Guangxi Daily,as an important channel of information circulation in Guangxi society,provides visibility of ethnic society for various ethnic practices,and promotes the transformation from small "Guixi District" to multi-ethnic "Guangxi Province".