News Discourse Analysis Of THE YOUNG COMPANION (1937-1941)

THE YOUNG COMPANIONstarted publication by Wu Liande in February 1926 in Shanghai.It stopped publication in October 1945.During 20 years,THE YOUNG COMPANION published 172 issues,including more than 400 pieces of colorful images and more than 32000 pieces of photos.Ithave a detailed record ofmodern China,including the famous businessmen,society,culture and art and so on,so it is called encyclopedia of modernChina.This paper will use the frameprovided by Fairclough that has three analysis dimensions ——text,discourse practice and social practice to analysis news discourse ofTHE YOUNG COMPANION and discuss the news discourse of THE YOUNG COMPANION how to reflect the society,how to construct the society,and how to promote social change through the power game.In the field of news discourse practice,from text production to text distribution to text consumption,text,ideology,social customs are bound to restrict THE YOUNG COMPANION’snews discourse practice.But based on the mode of graphic narration,THE YOUNG COMPANIONpracticed his own right to speak by changing the style,enhancing the dialogic nature of the text,dredging the intertextuality of folk discourse and constructing the logical chain.In the news text analysis,by using Gunther Kress and Theo van Leewen’s visual grammar,the paper analyses 36 images on THE YOUNG COMPANION and sums up THE YOUNG COMPANION how to construct social reality and social relationship about the war issue.THE YOUNG COMPANIONrecordedthe soldiers in the difficult battle and refugees in the shadows of war.It showed readers a national criseshistorical tone.And THE YOUNG COMPANION depicted a catastrophic scenecaused by the war.It arouse readers community imagination,which established "the other" and "self".Besides,THE YOUNG COMPANIONdepicted all kinds of social group,which guided consumer behavior,and promote more and more people to participate in the war.In the social practice of news discourse,with thedevelopment of democracy,commercialization and technology,THE YOUNG COMPANION is subject to external power,but also through various strategies to amend the power,reconstruction of power and change original orderof news discourse.This correction for power do not have strong antagonism and fierce conflict,but,in the promotion of social change,it shoulders the social responsibility of a news agency.