"Recovery Of Gaokao" Media Memory: A Diachronic Study

It has been forty-three years since the resumption of the college entrance examination system,a major event in China's educational history and even social history.This paper attempts to analyze the memory construction of the"resumption of college entrance examinations" in mainstream media from a diachronic perspective.This study uses the text analysis and framing analysis,and selects three newspapers:People's Daily,Liberation Daily and Guangzhou Daily,as the representatives of the traditional media memory field.With the main ideas of"what kind of memory was constructed by mainstream media","how did the constructed memory changes" and "why did it changes",the content and the process of change of the memory of the "resumption of college entrance examinations" constructed by mainstream media in China are examined,and the reasons for the change of the media memory of the "resumption of college entrance examinations" are explored.The study found that the content of the media memory of the resumption of college entrance examinations constructed by mainstream media is basically developed in two aspects:First,the macro memory centered on the changes of the times.This study categorizes them as the significance of the resumption of college entrance examinations,the reform of college entrance examinations with the times,and the close connection with reform and opening up.The second is the micro-memory centered on people's memories and personal struggles.They are mainly memories of past hardships,memories of telling exciting and unforgettable memories,memories of gratitude,and the identification of one's own identity as a candidate.During the forty-three years of development,as society has changed,the media memory of the "resumption of college entrance examinations" has also changed accordingly.Firstly,there was a change from a "thematic" frame to a "fragmentar"frame.After 1991,the number of "fragmentary" frame reports increased.The media memory of the "resumption of college entrance examinations" was more focused on the micro-memories at the personal level,with emphasis on emotional expression.The increase of "fragmentary" framed reports in newspapers was driven by the ritualized celebrations and the influence of TV news magazine programs,which led to the widespread participation of the public in the construction of the memory of the "restoration of the college entrance examination",tending to construct the "restoration of the college entrance examination" from the perspective of personal experiences and memories.The media memory of the "resumption of college entrance examinations" tends to be constructed from personal experiences and memories.Secondly,the official discourse shows a "V"-shaped change of power.Before 1992,the media memory of the "resumption of college entrance examinations" was dominated by the official;Since 1992,newspapers have been greatly expanded and the number of supplements and special issues has increased,because their production mechanism are different from that of the news.After 2000,the development of the Internet and the emergence of a new media environment,the folk memory field competed with the traditional media memory field for the position of public opinion.In response to this phenomenon,the mainstream media expanded the official discourse in the process of media memory of the "restoration of college entrance exams".Finally,the cognitive change from "can the resumption of college entrance exams change one's fate?".For more than 40 years,"college entrance exams change fate" has been the dominant direction of mainstream media memory,but as society develops and the college entrance examination system continues to change,memory becomes richer,people reflect on the college entrance examination system,and point out that the current college entrance examination is very different from the early period of "resuming college entrance exams.There is a big difference between the current college entrance examination and the early period of the "resumption of college entrance examination".The change of the college entrance examination system has driven the transformation of media memory,and a small number of perceptions of "college entrance examination does not necessarily change fate" have emerged in mainstream media,which has become the trend of memory change.