| Research on the national image has become a hot issue in recent years.As an important part of the national image,regional image not only reflects the national image from various aspects but also serves as a great resource for the social and economic development of a region.Hunan,an inland region in Central China,has to create a distinctive regional image for its sustainable development.In view of this,taking “Hunan” as the keyword,this study collects 83 reports from mainstream English newspaper China Daily,The Times The New York Times,and The Guardian from 2015 to 2020.Under the guidance of the framework of cultural discourse proposed by Shi Xu and the Attitude System in Appraisal Theory advanced by Martin and White,the author makes a contrast of the Hunan international image constructed by domestic and foreign media from discourse content,discourse mode,and discourse tendency combined with quantitative and qualitative analysis methods.This study specifically answers the following three questions:(1)what kind of international image of Hunan has been constructed by the mainstream English newspapers at home and abroad?(2)What are the differences and causes of the international image of Hunan constructed by mainstream English newspapers at home and abroad?(3)What kind of discourse strategy should be adopted to enhance the international image of Hunan?The following conclusions are generated through analysis:(1)From the perspective of discourse content,the theme in domestic newspapers is diversified,including cultural,economic,political,social,and other topics.However,the theme in foreign newspapers is relatively thin,primarily showing the cultural and social topics of Hunan.Domestic reports show that Hunan,as an economic power,is rich in tourism resources and historical and cultural heritage.In contrast,foreign newspapers have chiefly shaped the image of poor economy,unstable society and frequent natural disasters in Hunan.(2)Discourse mode mainly analyzes news genre and intertextuality.When reporting social news,China Daily mostly focuses on the description of the event itself,while foreign newspapers pay more attention to the comments on the event.In terms of reporting speech,the rate of indirect speech is much higher than that of direct speech in domestic or foreign newspapers.Both newspapers at home and abroad have clearly explained the news sources with few unknown news sources,which shows the principle of objectivity.According to the discourse subject,the government is entitled to a greater voice in domestic newspapers,while foreign newspapers choose to give ordinary individuals the voice.(3)From the perspective of discourse tendency,China Daily primarily applies positive discourse tendency in building the image of Hunan,while the foreign mainstream newspapers mainly use neutral and negative tendencies.It is worth noting that although the neutral title has no attitude vocabulary,the attitude and position of the media are still reflected in the report text of foreign newspapers.The study also found some discrepancies in the international image of Hunan constructed by mainstream English newspapers at home and abroad,which is due to the factor of the different political systems,cultural and communication ideas of media between China and the West.Eventually,the author puts forward some suggestions to improve the international image of Hunan from two aspects.On the one hand,domestic media should improve the way of news reporting by enriching news sources and increasing reports with ordinary people as the discourse subject so as to meet the multi-level needs of the audience.On the other hand,we need to grasp the initiative of news reporting,such as utilizing international media to tell Chinese stories and emphasizing the transmission of Hunan culture,so as to create an exclusive image of Hunan.This thesis is intended to provide available suggestions for Hunan’s international communication and strive for more initiatives in cross-cultural communication. |
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