A Critical Discourse Analysis of Intergroup Interpretations and Representations of Ideologies and National Identities in Sino-US News Reports of Russia-Ukraine Affair

Abstract

This study applies critical discourse analysis (CDA) and linguistic intergroup bias (LIB) theory to conduct a comparison of reports related to the Russia-Ukraine incident by Chinese media CGTN and US media CNN from late February to late March 2022. By analyzing their linguistic features and the intergroup psychological characteristics they project, the study explores the national identity embodied in these features, as well as the underlying ideological meaning and the power relations between different countries implied behind it. The results of the analysis show that: 1) discursive strategies are adopted by the newspapers to construct national identity and intergroup relations, including the discursive categorization of group identity and intragroup identity, and the discursive re-categorization of intergroup relations, 2) the similarities and differences in discursive strategies made by the Chinese and American media, 3) different ideologies and power relations reflected by these discursive strategies and the phenomenon of linguistic intergroup bias.