A Cultural Discourse Study On News Reports Of “COVID-19” In Chinese And British Mainstream Newspapers

“Corona Virus Disease 2019（COVID-19）”is the most influential epidemic disease in the past century,which has spread globally and brought great impact and challenges to the whole world.In the face of this global crisis,the world is engaged in an unprecedented war against the epidemic,and the measures taken by various countries in fighting the epidemic and their effectiveness are also highly concerned by the media.As an important discourse phenomenon,news reports of COVID-19 gradually become a hot topic in the fields of both journalism and linguistics.In the field of journalism,scholars mostly study from the perspective of communication structure and frame analysis,and research in the field of linguistics mainly focuses on cognitive linguistics,pragmatics,and critical discourse analysis（CDA）,while research at the level of cultural discourse is relatively lacking.Therefore,based on the theory of cultural discourse studies（CDS）,this thesis analyzes news reports of China-related COVID-19 in People’s Daily and The Times under the context of culture and history as a whole and dialectically.This study collects news reports of China-related COVID-19 in People’s Daily and The Times,mainstream newspapers in China and Britain,dating from December 30^th,2019 to May2^nd,2020 in accordance with the peak epidemic period in China.Firstly,a quantitative analysis is made to count the number and themes of news reports on China-related COVID-19 both in People’s Daily and The Times.Then,COVID-19 is considered as a discourse event.By means of corpus technology（keyword,concordance,collocates）and the theoretical framework of CDS,this thesis makes a comparative analysis of news reports on China-related COVID-19 from People’s Daily and The Times in terms of subjects,contents and purposes.Besides,this thesis also reveals the cultural and historical reasons of different epidemic discourse construction in the two newspapers.Through quantitative analysis,this thesis concludes that People’s Daily has the largest number of reports on the epidemic at the phase of high incidence overseas,paying close attention to the front-line dynamics of the epidemic response.While The Times focuses more on the high phase of the epidemic in China,with its themes pay attention to China’s anti-epidemic action.Besides,People’s Daily has less news reports than The Times only in the early phase of COVID-19 outbreak.The following findings are obtained by employing the research method of cultural discourse studies.The speaking subjects in People’s Daily and The Times mainly include governmental departments and officials,research institutions and non-governmental organizations.In terms of speaking contents,People’s Daily pays much attention to policy-oriented reports of China’s anti-epidemic actions,focuses on the progress on the front lines,the efforts of anti-epidemic personnel,the rescue of medical staff,and China’s assistance to other countries through its own experience in fighting the epidemic.Besides,People’s Daily quotes many words from authoritative medical experts to guide the people of the whole country to treat the epidemic prevention and control scientifically and rationally,and a large number of positive expressions enhance the confidence of all people in overcoming the epidemic.The Times,on the one hand,praises China’s swift and effective anti-epidemic measures;on the other hand,it questions the transparency of China’s epidemic data,holds the Chinese government accountable,and maliciously discredits China’s image.As for purposes of discourse,People’s Daily,as the mouthpiece of the Party and the government,speaks out internationally on behalf of the state,keeps an eye on international public opinion trends,strives to play a correct guiding role,and highlights China’s image as a great power.In contrast,The Times portrays China’s image with mixed praises and criticisms.At last,this research further analyzes the reasons for the differences in epidemic discourse between People’s Daily and The Times from historical and cultural perspectives.It is pointed out that the different historical backgrounds of China and Britain shape their different cultural traditions,living habits,and thinking patterns.Based on the cultural dimension theory,the thesis concludes that the high power distance,collectivism,high uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation of Chinese culture,as well as the ones of low power distance,individualism,low uncertainty avoidance and short-term orientation in British culture,respectively contribute to the distinctive epidemic discourse in People’s Daily and The Times.This study further validates the feasibility of using the theory of cultural discourse studies to analyze news reports and provides a new perspective for interpreting news reports of COVID-19.Exploring differences of discourse between People’s Daily and The Times in the epidemic coverage is conducive to mutual understanding and communication between Chinese and British cultures.Moreover,it is also beneficial for China to effectively grasp international public opinion concerning China,respond more quickly to problems arising in the course of health emergencies,improve the international public opinion environment,and establish a good image of China.