A Critical Metaphor Analysis Of China’s Image Construction In American Coverage On China’s Economy(2010-2021)

This study set out to explore the China’s images constructed by NYT’s coverage on China’s economy(2010-2021)within the framework of critical metaphor analysis.The following questions are probed into in this thesis: 1)What conceptual metaphors are used in NYT’s coverage on China’s economy from 2010 to 2021? What are the diachronic features of the metaphors used? 2)What national images are built for China by NYT’s coverage on China’s economy? What are the diachronic changes in them from 2010 to 2021? How are the images metaphorically constructed? 3)What are the major factors influencing NYT’s construction of China’s images?In this thesis,a corpus(283,901 words)—NYTCCE,encompassing 12 sub-corpora is established based on 279 NYT’s reports on China’s economy(2010-2021).Identification of metaphors used in this corpus is accomplished with the employment of Wmatrix 4.0 and MIPVU.Interpretation and explanation of metaphoric construction of China’s images are achieved on the grounds of conceptual metaphor theory and critical metaphor analysis.Then the following results are founded in the thesis:1)Six dominant metaphors are used in NYT’s China-related economic reports(2010-2021):WAR(the most frequently used),JOURNEY,HEALTH & BODY,PLANT,HUMAN BEING and MACHINE.Their diachronic features are recapitulated as follows: the usages of WAR and PLANT both show significant changes from 2010 to 2021: WAR undergoes a salient upward tendency with a noticeable turning point emerging in 2017,while PLANT slides dramatically.The applications of other types of metaphors all suggest gentle fluctuations and sustain downward tendencies from 2010 to 2021 in addition to that of HUMAN BEING.2)Principal images built for China by NYT’s China-related economic reports(2010-2021)include: “an enemy”,“a struggling soldier”,“a traveler slowing down his driving”,“a traveler speeding up his driving”,“a weak person”,“a person recovering from illness”,“a slow-growing plant”,“a fast-growing plant”,“a violent person”,“a negative person”,“a compromiser”,“a manipulator” and “a machine”.Their diachronic changes are summarized as follows: The image of “an enemy” built by WAR shows a striking rise,particularly from 2018 to 2020,whereas the image of “a struggling soldier” displays a stable variation.Images built by JOURNEY,PLANT and HEALTH &BODY all display gentle downward tendencies,along with images of “a traveler slowing down his driving,” “a slow-growing plant” and “a weak person” occupying superior positions from2010 to 2021.“A manipulator” and “a machine” are two images built by MACHINE,the occurrence of the former one grows steadily with its dominant position maintained from 2017 to 2019,whereas that of the latter one presents a descending trend.In addition,HUMAN BEING-built images exhibit ascending trends and are especially foregrounded in 2019 and2020.Above all,NYT put more emphasis on constructing negative images for China.3)Five major factors—cognitive,pragmatic,historical,ideological functions,and national relations—are considered for illuminating NYT’s construction of China’s images.At cognitive level,the metaphorization of national image originates from the inclination to perceive abstract concept in view of embodied experiences;At pragmatic level,it can achieve the persuasive function of metaphor,which promotes the public recognition of China’s images built by NYT;At historical level,the crucial roles played by war and machine in a country’s development make them the candidate source domains for building China’s images;At ideological level,motivation,propaganda and integration are the three kinds of ideological functions elucidating the underlying political intentions of NYT’s constructed China’s images;The development of China’s strength and Sino-US relations are also regarded as the principal factors influencing the construction of China’s images by NYT.