Online Epidemic Narratives And Community Imaginings Of Chinese International Students

The spread of the COVID-19 has brought great impact and damage to society and personal life,and it has also highlighted the loneliness and vulnerability of individuals under the global epidemic crisis.How to arrange individualized survival issues such as self-security in a risk society has become the focus of research in society and academia.The "community" has always been regarded as a social ideal form that places self-identity and safeguards individual rights and interests.During the COVID-19,overseas Chinese students have a different experience than before in terms of their cognition of personal identity,as well as their imagination of their homeland and the country/region where they live.They shared their lives during the COVID-19 through social media platforms,recounted their experiences of home isolation,sought mutual support on social media,and presented their personal memories under the global epidemic in the form of online diaries,reflecting their personal lives,attitudes and thoughts to the world,and also convey the cognition and views of Chinese students on China,the country where they live and the world.Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods,and with the help of Fairclough’s discourse analysis theory,1780 "Overseas Students’ Epidemic Observation" diaries published by overseas Chinese students on the Douban platform were analyzed.Through content analysis and word frequency analysis,it is found that the time and frequency of diaries published by them are generally related to the process of the COVID-19;the text format is more inclined to use medium and long diaries,and the narrative presentation is more detailed;the use of symbols also presents rich three-dimensional characteristics;on the narrative theme,six themes are found: "the destruction of the COVID-19" "the stigmatization experience" "the individual awareness" "the feelings of nation and country" "social connection" and "the global connection imagination".The above is embodied in the crisis emotions of "fear" and "evil",the expression of patriotic feelings of "good" and "pleasure",and the appeal for human unity and cooperation mainly based on "sorrow".In the part of discourse practice,it is found that the main sources of quotations for overseas Chinese students’ narratives are: news media at home and abroad;classmates and people in the host country;leaders and officials;domestic relatives,friends and classmates;experts and scholars.Different discourse frameworks reflect the way of thinking of overseas Chinese students under the mainstream values,and reflect their understanding and cognition of themself,others,and society.At the same time,metaphorical discourses generally exist in the diaries,mainly including two contexts,the stigma against others for using "metaphors of disease" and the call for joint action under the global epidemic.In the analysis of social practice dimension,it is found that the fear of unknown virus,stigma experience and various forms of discrimination have aggravated the anxiety and worried of overseas Chinese students in the process of cross-cultural communication,but they still try to draw social and emotional support from cultural ethics.From these 1780 trivial and scattered daily records,we discovered the perception of "community" among the overseas Chinese students under the epidemic-A traditional safety net shattered in the epidemic crisis,a homeland full of warmth and ethical implications,and a new connection between destiny and humanitarianism that transcends countries and regions.Finally,some personal suggestions are put forward in response to the problems presented in their epidemic diary.