A Study Of The Westernization Of The Chinese Language In Mass Media From The Perspective Of Polysystem Theory

Modern Chinese,with the reference to the lexicon,grammar,and structural elements of Western languages(basically English)introduced by translation activities,has become a mature language system since the New Culture Movement around the 1920s in China and has been developing till now.This process of language modification is so defined as "Westernization",which is a dynamic concept that has different manifestations in different circumstances and development stages.In today’s era of promoting cultural confidence,under the environment of frequent and close exchanges between China and the West,it is necessary to analyze the role,development,and impact of the Westernization process.From the perspective of Polysystem theory,throughout history,the Westernization of the Chinese language is not only a linguistic concept but also a cultural and literary phenomenon affected by various circumstances like economy,culture,society,politics,etc.Taking the development of mass media and some external environmental factors as a reference,this study divides the process of Westernization since modern times into four stages and researches the characteristics and strategies of Westernization under different mass media environments based on Polysystem theory.It attempts to find the respective features of Westernization at various stages,diachronically analyzes the development of Westernization,and finally draws the conclusion that Westernization is a conscious activity of language evolution to adapt to external environments,and the development process of Westernization conforms to the path of translated literature returning from its dominant position to the periphery in a literature Polysystem,reflecting the return of Chinese cultural confidence in the language as the country’s strength improves.