A Cultural Discourse Study On News Reports Of "the Belt And Road" Initiative In The Major Chinese And American Newspapers

“The Belt and Road” Initiative was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in September and October,2013.It is the abbreviation of “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”.As a global public product provided by China,“the Belt and Road” has been receiving widespread attention from scholars around the world since its birth.Moreover,having been seen as an important discourse phenomenon,“the Belt and Road” is gradually becoming a hot topic in the fields of linguistics and journalism.This research analyzes 200 news reports of “the Belt and Road” in two Chinese English-language newspapers(i.e.,China Daily and Global Times)and two American newspapers(i.e.,The Washington Post and The New York Times)between October 2,2013 and April 27,2019 under the framework SIMPHC of Cultural Discourse Studies(CDS).First,it can be found that the subjects(agents)in this research are the two Chinese newspapers(i.e.,China Daily and Global Times)and two American newspapers(i.e.,The New York Times and The Washington Post),as well as the readers around the world who are able to read in English.Second,the intents/forms are analyzed by studying on the keywords,concordances,clusters and semantic domains with the help of the software Ant Conc and Wmatrix.Through the contrastive analysis of keywords,concordances and clusters,it can be found that American newspapers are inclined to portray “the Belt and Road” as a geopolitical threat or a dangerous factor affecting world's economy and ecological environment,thereby shaping an ambitious and irresponsible international image of China and Chinese government;while Chinese newspapers tend to portray “the Belt and Road” as a public product benefiting the world not only in economy,but also many other fields such as environmental protection,cultural communication and the improvement ofpeople's standard of life.By analyzing the semantic domains contrastively,it can be found that American newspapers are more inclined to portray and interpret “the Belt and Road” from economic perspectives,while Chinese newspapers also pay attention to the active roles in promoting cultural exchanges and multilateralism played by “the Belt and Road” in addition to economy as well.Besides,American newspapers are more inclined to directly question and comment through combining positive news reports with negative ones;while in the face of doubts,Chinese newspapers are more likely to choose a kind of discourse strategies that can avoid direct confrontation effectively.Third,in terms of the purposes/effects,by utilizing the theory of reporting schemes in journalism,it can be concluded that the dissemination effects of “the Belt and Road” media discourse of China and America are both fruitful.At last,this research further interprets the reasons for the differences between Chinese and American media discourse from historical and cultural perspectives.Firstly,it is believed that the different historical backgrounds of China and America create different cultures,living habits,and thinking patterns in the two countries.Then,based on the theory of cultural dimensions,it is believed that the characteristics of high power distance,collectivism,femininity,and high uncertainty avoidance in Chinese culture,as well as the ones of individualism,masculinity,and low uncertainty avoidance in American culture,have respectively created the distinctive “the Belt and Road” media discourse in China and America.This research attempts to dissect the discourse phenomenon of “the Belt and Road” by using a research method that combines discourse analysis,journalism,and culturology under the theoretical framework SIMPHC of CDS.Based on the major findings,this research proposes that strengthening mutual understandings on the premise of mutual cultural learning is one of the best solutions to resolve differences.As the world's largest developed and developing country,America and China should increase benign exchanges and interactions in different aspects while accommodatingthe comfort level of each other's culture,lifestyle and mode of thinking.