新闻评论中批判性态度的话语建构 (The Discursive Construction of Critical Attitudes in News Commentaries)

Abstract

Critical attitudes involve the systematic analysis of wrong ideas and behaviors so as to achieve the purpose of effective refutation. This article proposes a theoretical framework to analyze the discursive construction of critical attitudes, including its semantic system and ways of expression. Based on this framework, we elucidated the discursive strategies used by the news commentaries from People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency in the end of 2019 to criticize the violent protesters in Hong Kong and American politicians. Analysis shows that the commentaries effectively revealed the violence and terror committed by protesters, as well as the United States despicable support of violence. The commentaries explicated the hegemonic essence of American policies, exposed its vicious purpose of containing China's development, and predicted that it is doomed to fail. Rich discursive strategies, such as explicit evaluation, figures of speech, semantic enhancement, cognitive contrast, and highlighting details were used to arouse empathy from readers. It is pointed out that in the current international environment, proper and effective rebuttal is important for forming social consensus and enhancing national solidarity.