A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Indo-pacific Strategy Report From The Perspective Of Proximization Theory

The proximization theory focuses on the use of lexical and grammatical resources to reconstruct cognitive space involving spatial,temporal and axiological,thus facilitating the legitimization of discourse and related policies or measures.It regards cognition as a link between discourse and society,and provides a new perspective for critical discourse analysis.The Indo-Pacific Strategy Report is the latest regional strategic policy released by the United States.Using the proximization theory to conduct critical discourse analysis on it can help us to interpret the ideology and legitimization construction reflected in the discourse,so as to have a deeper understanding of the political discourse strategy and diplomatic attitude of the United States.Based on the proximization theory,with the help of the Spatial-Temporal-Axiological Model(STA Model),this thesis conducts critical discourse analysis on the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report issued by the United States in 2019 from three different dimensions,namely spatial proximization,temporal proximization and axiological proximization by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.The purpose is to explain the distribution characteristics of the proximization strategies involved in the strategic report,the ideology reflected behind the discourse and the function played by the proximization theory in the study of critical discourse analysis of the strategy report,so as to prove the great explanatory power of the proximization theory in critical discourse analysis.Through in-depth analysis,this thesis finds that :(1)in the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report,all three different dimensions of the proximization strategies are involved.Among them,the spatial proximization strategy accounts for the largest proportion(11.76%),which mainly emphasizes the construal process that outside-the-deictic-center(ODC)gradually invades inside-the-deictic-center(IDC)in physical space and causes damage to it.The temporal proximization strategy accounts for the least proportion(2.03%),which creates a brief current time frame in order to presuppose that the threat from ODC is imminent and may occur at any time from now to the future.Through such a discourse strategy,the speaker can create a sense of urgency and activate the security awareness of the hearers,so as to realize the legitimization of his defensive measures.The axiological proximization strategy accounts for 2.86%,which reflects the ever-increasing ideological conflict between ODC and IDC.It compulsorily constructs the high possibility of internal and external conflict and materializes ODC’s negative values in the IDC space to achieve ideological control.(2)In the Indo-Pacific Strategy Report,the negative ideology of ODC is in sharp contrast and conflict with the positive values of the United States.Its purpose is to deepen the hearers’ understanding and fear of threat image of ODC,simultaneously,use discourse trap to achieve ideological manipulation,so as to win the hearers’ recognition and support,influence the hearers’ decision-making and judgment,as well as achieve the political purpose.(3)From the cognitive perspective,proximization theory can effectively explain the discourse construction of legitimization in strategy report,so as to arouse the proximity of external threats,seek the legitimacy of discourse,endow the actions and policies with reasonable reasons and eliminate negative and opposite external influences.This thesis is a powerful explanation of the validity of the proximization theory,which helps to interpret the intention of discourse strategy and the reflection of ideology in the U.S.strategy report.Meanwhile,it enriches the application fields of the proximization theory research and provides a reference for future researches on critical discourse analysis of political discourse.