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Strategies of legitimization in discourse : a critical discourse analysis of political discourse in China and the US
Author
Tan, Yunying
Supervisor
Xavier, Christine Anita
Abstract
The most recent Sino-US trade war; ongoing since January 2018, has received widespread attention because of its vast scale and the scope of its impact on the international economy. This China-US trade war has been at the forefront of media reports, newspaper reports, political debates and academic research in the two countries and in the rest of the world. Many studies have been done to investigate the causes of this trade war, the possible impact of this trade war to China and the US and to the rest of the world, and the possible future of this trade war. However, few studies have been done in the area of discourse analysis to examine how China and the US use discursive strategies to defend themselves and legitimize their stances, policies and actions in this trade war.
This study aims to fill this gap and investigates how China and the US make strategic use of language to legitimize their policies in this trade war and what hidden ideologies are beneath the strategic use of language. Drawing on Van Leeuwen’s four types of legitimization strategies and Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework in discourse analysis, the study examines the linguistic features of two political texts (one from China and the other from the US), identifies five types of legitimization strategies in the texts and suggests two ideologies driving the use of legitimization strategies: the ideology of ‘China as a threat’ and the ideology of ‘US as a hegemony’.
This study aims to fill this gap and investigates how China and the US make strategic use of language to legitimize their policies in this trade war and what hidden ideologies are beneath the strategic use of language. Drawing on Van Leeuwen’s four types of legitimization strategies and Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework in discourse analysis, the study examines the linguistic features of two political texts (one from China and the other from the US), identifies five types of legitimization strategies in the texts and suggests two ideologies driving the use of legitimization strategies: the ideology of ‘China as a threat’ and the ideology of ‘US as a hegemony’.
Date Issued
2020
Call Number
P302.77 Tan
Date Submitted
2020