| News discourse, as a form of discourse, has always been the research object of Critical Discourse Analysis. Previous studies about identity construction of marginal social group are mainly concerned about laid-off women and migrate workers. Recently, sanitation workers have acquired much attention from the society. In this paper, sanitation workers will be the research object and news reports reprinted by People’s Daily Online about sanitation workers will be analyzed to investigate how news discourse constructs the workers’ social identity. The major findings of the study can be listed as follows:Firstly, Sanitation workers are constructed as a as a vulnerable group with noble personality. They have low social status. By using appraisal theory proposed by Martin, this thesis studies attitude and gradation of news discourse and investigates how news discourse makes evaluation about sanitation workers’ character, working condition and living condition, and how news discourse construct sanitation workers’ social identity. At the same time, van Leeuwen’s theory of discursive representation is used to analyze headlines of news reports and explore how news discourse represents sanitation workers.Secondly, the language producers do not objectively represent the social reality, but transmit information and ideologies under the control of context model. News discourse constructs the workers as an innocent victim in the accident. According to context model put forward by van Dijk, the participants of the events that sanitation workers are hit by car are analyzed to investigate the mental model of the accident and the strategic production of discourse. News discourse constructs the workers as an innocent victim and evokes the public’s emotions about their miserable experience.Finally, though sanitation workers have received much attention from the public, their working and living conditions do not improve. Reports made by mass media have arouse the public’s concern to them, but the news discourse does not propose feasible solutions to the problems. Compassion and sympathy could not solve sanitation workers’ problems fundamentally. What’s more, sanitation department should take measures to ensure the workers’ safety and improve their living conditions.The significance of the thesis lies in that the investigation of sanitation workers’ identity construction in news discourse makes us have a deep understanding about the social group. It is of great significant to the social practice of improving sanitation workers’ working and living conditions. The investigation also reflects humanistic concern and the concept of harmonious society. |
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