A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Gender Images Of Young Chinese Female In The Short Sketch Schiller Street

In the 2015 CCTV Spring Festival Gala,the short sketch Schiller Street has caused strong controversy and aroused heated discussions.A large portion of opinions from sensitive audiences and the media held that the performance obviously showed gender discrimination on females.Such discrimination,in those criticizers' eyes,reflected biased and distorted gender perceptions in Chinese society which,if left ignored,may cause very serious social problems.The present study takes the short sketch Schiller Street as its object,aiming to look into different female gender images of“??(Nv Shen)”and“???(Nv Hanzi)”shaped in it and to explore males'influences and gender relationships implied in the image-shaping process,as well as to reveal related ideological and hegemonic issues hidden behind.There are already a few studies on the short sketch that took a discursive and sociolinguistic angle of view,but these studies mainly looked at the short sketch in a macro perspective and focused on its relations with the social-cultural context,while lacking detailed investigation into the text in a micro perspective.Therefore,the present study tries to combine the micro and macro layers of perspective and conduct a rather elaborated and comprehensive analysis into the discourse in textual,discursive and social dimensions.The theoretical framework applied in the study is Norman Fairclough's(1992)three-dimensional framework in critical discourse analysis.The set of analytical units applied in the study consists of two layers: the macro layer centers on two key concepts — ideology and hegemony;and the micro layer contains several different analytical tools: interactional control features and “horizontal” intertextual relations illustrated in Fairclough(1992)as well as Michael Bamberg's(2011)three dimensions in identity construction(agency vs.control;difference vs.sameness;constancy vs.change).The structure of the analytical procedure is divided into two layers:micro-analysis and macro-analysis.The micro layer contains three major analytical aspects: the two female characters' self-shaping process of their gender images,the three male characters' influence in the two female characters' image-shaping progress as well as the male-female relationship,and the plot development of the story.The macro layer centers on the relations between the targeted discourse and its social-cultural context.The two key concepts: ideology and hegemony are focused upon in this layer of analytical process,in order to further discuss social issues hiding behind the text.The findings show that in Chinese male-dominant social-cultural context,gender ideology is embedded in the stage performances in the CCTV Gala and gradually becomes subtly“naturalized”.In the story,the females reconstructed a distorted new version of the already problematic gender identities“??”and“???”.The positive gender images of a“??”are narrowed down to only being advantageous in appearance,while the gender images of a“???”are distorted,the focus being shifted from positive features onto negative ones,and disadvantages in appearance were stressed.The reconstruction of the female gender identities consolidated the stereotypical images of females and gender discrimination in the society.On the other hand,the males influenced the females'self-recognition and tendency in their gender image-shaping and also the course of the shaping process itself.The gender relationship is asymmetric with males owning power over females.Within such an imbalanced relationship,females are passively marginalized and objectified with their voice suppressed and have to compromise to or even involve in the consolidation process of male power.Such gender relationship also helps consolidate males'absolute authority and females'subordinate position as well as the biased gender ideological naturalization.It is hoped that through the investigation into this representative discourse,somecontributions could be made to reflect on domestic gender problems and seek for their solutions.For example,the mass media should make more positive efforts in the spreading of the value of gender equality.The public should enhance their sensitivity and consciousness to gender issues in media presentations.The domestic social-cultural context should accept females' differences to males and show respect to their' individual choices and values.Social institutions and government policies should provide more support and help females to reach the balance between work and family.Moreover,it is important for females to learn to self-accept and self-recognize their female identities and female gender roles in the society.