| As representative of social media,Twitter has become an important platform and tool for political organizations and politicians to communicate with voters,influencing public opinion and creating a public persona.A typical example of this is the 45 th President of the United States,Donald Trump.Through the instant,interactive and universal nature of Twitter,Trump has actively promoted his "America First" policy to gather public opinion and attract voters.He has turned the social media platform into a political debate platform where he can attack his political opponents and counter negative public opinion.This highly personal style of governance has been described as "Twitter governance".China is one of the countries that Trump has tweeted about most often.Through his Twitter,he has made a lot of claims about the threats posed by China.During the trade war between the US and China,he has repeatedly accused China of being a threat and on more than one occasion linked it to an epidemic spreading in the US,which has damaged the international image of China and damaged US-China relations.The Twitter discourse of Trump has a strong personal dimension and a special capacity for emotional mobilization.This paper selects 344 original China-related tweets posted by Trump from January 20,2017 to November 3,2020 as the objects of analysis.On the basis of Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis model,the characteristics and constructions of Trump's China-related tweets and the hidden ideological and power relations behind them are systematically analyzed in three dimensions: textual,discursive practice and social practice,respectively.It is found that in terms of textual practices,Trump influences netizens' perceptions of China through "over-lexicalization",the extensive use of negative words,grammatical material processes and high-volume modal verbs.In terms of discursive practices,economic issues are the main focus,and homogeneous messages are issued frequently.He adopts a fiercely confrontational narrative style to intensify conflicts,as well as being good at using various quotations to support his own biased views and endorse them.To a certain extent,Trump's own special political tendencies,the special nature of the social media discourse system,as well as the ups and downs of international relations and China-US relations,have all affected and determined the special nature and complexity of Trump's discourse on China-related issues on Twitter.However,how to deal with politicians like Trump,who use social media platforms to spread extreme political views,influence voters and deliberately create conflicts and disputes.How to establish an independent social media voice without relying on capital platforms such as Twitter.Both of them are important topices. |
PDF Full Text Request