A Critical Discourse Analysis Of China-Related Reports On COVID-19 In The New York Times:A Proximization Theory Perspective

Wuhan,China,was hit with an outbreak of COVID-19 in December of 2019.Domestic and foreign media,including the New York Times,which earns wide popularity in the United States and the world,raced to cover the progress of the epidemic in China.However,the false news reports of foreign media have misled the readers’viewpoint toward China during the outbreak,and few studies revealed the hidden intentions behind the reports from a cognitive aspect.Therefore,it is of great significance to make a study of China-related reports on COVID-19 in foreign media from a cognitive perspective.This study selects 40 reports on China’s COVID-19 situation from The New York Times,which is ranging from January 20^thto April 28^th,2020.On the basis of the combination of qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis,it makes a critical discourse analysis on the reports from the dimensions of space,time and axiology of Proximization Theory and tries to solve the following three questions:（1）What kinds of proximization strategies are used in The New York Times?（2）How is each dimension of proximization strategies used in The New York Times?（3）What are the hidden ideologies by using the proximization strategies in The New York Times?The main findings are as follows:（1）Three kinds of proximization strategies are all used in The New York Times,among which spatial proximization strategies take the largest proportion,axiological proximization strategies take the second,and temporal proximization strategies occupy the least proportion.Accordingly,it adopts the model of spatial-axiological dominance with temporal assistance,which implies that the American side focuses on the conflict and ideological confrontation between peripheral entities and central entities.（2）From the perspective of space,the words representing the interests of the United States and the public are positioned in deictic center,while the epidemic,China and the Chinese government’s efforts to fight against the epidemic are placed in the periphery,so the American side identifies people as central entities and the virus and Chinese government as peripheral entities.From the perspective of time,the United States indicates the threat is imminent and durative by describing the SARS virus in the past and using modal verbs.Finally,the axiological proximization uses negative words to modify the Chinese government which are contrary to American values,and the American side demonstrates the opposition of values between China and US by emphasizing negative ideology.（3）The New York Times uses the spatial proximization strategies to highlight the threat China poses to the United States and the public,emphasizing the conflict between Chinese government and the public in China,so as to generate the public’s dissatisfaction with China.Through temporal proximization,it reflects the imminence of the epidemic to arouse foreign people’s fear of China.Through axiological proximization,the Chinese government is distorted into a negative image through emphasizing the ideological confrontation between China and the America.In short,The New York Times deliberately demonized China’s anti-epidemic actions through proximization strategies,which is contrary to the facts.This study effectively reveals the ideology behind the discourse by analyzing the discourse strategies.Theoretically,this study not only enriches the research of Proximization Theory,but also provides a new perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis.Practically,the study reveals how The New York Times distorts the legitimacy of China’s fight against COVID-19 from the perspective of cognition.It will help the audience identify the false reports to obtain an objective understanding of China’s response to the virus.