Interpersonal-function topoi in Chinese central government’s work report (2020) as epidemic (counter-)crisis discourse
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Jiayu Wang [1] ; Mingfeng Yang [2]
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[1] Central China Normal University
Central China Normal University
China
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[2] Jiangxi Tourism and Commerce Vocational College
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- Localización: Journal of language and politics, ISSN 1569-2159, Vol. 22, Nº. 2, 2023, págs. 185-203
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Using Systemic Functional Grammar and conceptual framework in the argumentation-oriented approach to discourse, this study analyzes Chinese central government’s “ Report on the Work of the Government” in 2020 (henceforth the Report) to explore the “interpersonal-function topoi” in the political discourse. The Report was delivered and issued against the backdrop of the surging covid-19 epidemic. This study first calculated the frequency of mood, modality and persons in the Report. The statistics were qualitatively analyzed in relation to various topoi-imagery of the crisis vis-à-vis representing the agency-reflected in the interpersonal metafunction of the language in the Report. These topoi play a vital role in winning popular support for the Chinese central government’s anti-epidemic measures and mobilizing the widest public into actions against the covid-19 pandemic. The analysis demonstrates how the analysis of interpersonal metafunction from an argumentation-oriented perspective can shed light on dealing with crisis discourse, especially in the pandemic settings
