Hybridizing Tradition and Technology: Global Reception of “Black Myth: Wukong” as a Vehicle for Chinese Cultural Identity and International Media Flows

In the age of disruption and in today’s platform society (Van Dijck et al., 2019), communication between nation states is influenced by the development of technology. The nation state is responding to the new communication environment through “techplomacy” and through the use of Artificial Intelligence as a strategic asset in the global tech race. Arti- ficial Intelligence (AI), including the strategies to come up with viable AI, has a big potential for nation branding, being also a competitive advan- tage for countries worldwide. In this context, the aim of our research is to investigate technology as a soft power (Nye, 2004) instrument for Romania and to analyze how the nation brand is constructed in relation to technol- ogy. In doing so, our research revolves around the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy for Romania, presented at the IT&C Summit on May 8, 2019, and 50 news articles, published in the quality press (Adevărul, Gândul, România Liberă) employing mixed methods such as framing analysis (Entman, 1993) and critical discourse analysis (Van Dijk, 1993). The results show that there are four dominant media frames: (1) artificial intelligence, (2) the 5G technology, (3) education and (4) smart city, while both journal- ists and public actors have an active role in constructing technology as a public issue in Romania.

This research paper explores the salience of Buddhism as a potent instrument of soft power within India's neighborhood. Buddhism, with its profound historical and cultural roots in India, has transcended geographical boundaries to become an influential force that shapes diplomatic relationships and socio-cultural ties in the region. This study delves into the multifaceted dimensions of Buddhism's role in India's foreign policy and its impact on fostering closer relationships with neighboring countries. The paper begins by tracing the historical trajectory of Buddhism in India and its subsequent diffusion to neighboring nations. It examines how Buddhism has not only endured as a spiritual and philosophical tradition but has also evolved into a dynamic tool for international engagement. In this context, it delves into the significance of Buddhism as a cultural bridge that connects India with its neighboring countries, transcending linguistic and religious differences. The study also evaluates the geopolitical implications of Buddhism's resurgence in India's neighborhood. It assesses the impact of India's Buddhist diplomacy on regional stability, security, and economic cooperation. Special attention is given to India's relations with countries like China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Myanmar, where Buddhism holds particular significance. In conclusion, this research underscores the enduring relevance of Buddhism as an instrument of soft power in India's neighborhood. It emphasizes the need for India to harness its rich Buddhist heritage and promote intercultural dialogues as essential components of its foreign policy toolkit, furthering its diplomatic objectives and fostering enduring bonds with its neighbors.

The subject of the research is the study of the Russian language as a source of Russia's soft power in the Arab world using the examples of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Morocco. Being a strong instrument of soft power, the spread of the Russian language can help Russia attract investment, tourism, the best minds of the planet, as well as promote a positive image of the Russian Federation in the world. The purpose of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of the Russian language as an instrument of Russia's soft power in the Arab region using the examples of the UAE and Morocco. The objectives of the study are to collect and analyze information from respondents from the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Morocco, respectively; to conduct a comparative analysis between data obtained from Morocco and the UAE; to create pie and bar charts to simplify the understanding and analysis of the information collected. The study used social survey methods, for which circular and bar charts were used to analyze responses. A comparative analysis method was also used to study how the spread of the Russian language differs in Morocco and the UAE, respectively. The scientific novelty of the article is the fact that the Russian language is insufficiently studied as an instrument of Russia's soft power in the Arab world. Russian is a strong source of Russia's soft power in Morocco and the UAE, as the majority of respondents stated that they had thought about learning Russian, as it is an important language of peace and diplomacy. Also, the majority of respondents stressed that the Russian language can be useful to them both in professional and academic fields. In addition, the vast majority of respondents in both countries stated that they associate the Russian language as a tool for cultural exchange and communication. It is important to note that the author also came to the conclusion that the institutions of the Russian language are much more developed in the UAE than in Morocco

IntroductionTeachers of English as a foreign language must be aware of the wide array of variables involved in the selection of texts which are to be presented in the classroom. Often this selection process is approached from a linguistic point of view. However, it is vital to consider the text from the perspective of the discourse analyst, especially given the cross-cultural differences seen in the EFL setting, which could easily result in misinterpretation on the part of the reader. It is also of utmost importance for teachers to be aware of the suppressing and/or liberating effects any given text may have on their learners.The present study aims to determine whether Ernest Hemingway's short story Cat in the Rain is suitable for being taught in the Iranian EFL context, as well as detecting the issues and difficulties which may accompany its use. With this purpose in mind, a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the short story was undertaken.Through CDA, we seek to expound on the thematic messages conveyed by the short story. Our study will be aided by occasional references made to other works by Hemingway, and will analyze the rhetorical devices employed by the author both in general and in the short story at hand.Critical Discourse AnalysisLed by Fairclough, Wodak and van Dijk, among others (Wodak & Meyer 2001), the field of CDA attempts to uncover the manipulation and dominance of society by those in power. The relevance of CDA, however, extends to any given means of influence even literary means. According to Fairclough (1995), power is described in terms of asymmetries between participants in discourse events and the capacity to control how texts are produced, distributed and consumed...in particular social contexts (p.1). To him, all features of discourse are potentially ideological, and texture (the form and organization of a text, not just its contents) is an extraordinarily sensitive indicator of sociocultural processes, relations and change (p.4). He discusses the 'orderliness' and 'naturalisation' of state-produced 'autonomous subjects' (although 'state' is used interchangeably with any 'group' or 'culture'), shaped to integrate and be 'competent, non-resistant' participants in society (p.27). Fairclough (1992), in his seminal work Discourse and Social Change, attempts to create a model of textually based discourse analysis, and includes group and personal 'ethos' in the equation. However, criticisms of CDA include its overtly political, potentially contentious nature (Kress 1990); its inclination to be reductionistic and deterministic (Pennycook 1994); and its proponents' tendency to remain uncritical of themselves (Widdowson 1998).The central goal of CDA is to highlight the use of language in the unequal maintenance of power and control over people (Fairclough 1995; Wodak 2001). Therefore, it is primarily an endeavor of social awareness and emancipation through analysis of spoken or written texts, with the aim of uncovering specific ideology, often implicitly portrayed by the author. As such, and despite the various approaches advocated by the forerunners in CDA development (see Meyer, 2001:15-16), CDA assumes the importance of both a historical and contemporary discourse context, and demonstrates its interdisciplinary nature. In addition, CDA includes analysis of interdiscursive and intertextual relationships, distinct from other methods.Attempting to explain how conversations in texts can be critically analyzed, Fairclough (1995) and Kress (1990) point out that one should observe whether communicative interaction is evenly or unevenly distributed. In other words, whether one person dominates the communicative event in any situation/ conversation or there is an active sharing of conversational turn-takings. They suggest that one should examine whether individuals are placed in the subjected position in institutional interaction or are allowed to be active participants in dialogue. …

Ruth Wodak & Paul Chilton (eds.), A new agenda in (critical) discourse analysis: Theory, methodology and interdisciplinarity. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society, and Culture, 13. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. xi, 322. Hb $138.00. The title of this book implicitly raises a number of important questions about the relationships among discourse analysis (DA), critical discourse analysis (CDA), and interdisciplinarity: Is CDA one approach to analyzing text and talk, or is it (by implication of the ambiguous parenthetical reference in the book's title) somehow merging with (an increasingly more critical) DA? To what extent does or should (C)DA embrace interdisciplinary approaches to treating language in use? Finally (and perhaps most compelling of all), what is this new agenda, what is wrong with the old agenda, and why is a new agenda needed at this time? Overall, the book does a fair to good job of addressing these questions.

The analysis of the linguistic aspect of the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China is becoming more relevant today owing to the fact that the impact of soft power factors - methods to achieve the desired result without the use of violence - enhances in foreign policy processes. The foreign policy of China is not an exception. of the main elements of soft power is the language policy. The article is devoted to the linguistic aspect of China's foreign policy in modern conditions as an instrument of soft power. The definition of the concept soft power, the principal components and instruments of soft power in Eastern countries are underlined in the article. New principles and direction of China's diplomacy, pledged at the VIII Congress of the CPC, reflect the fact that soft power is used as one of the main tools of China's foreign policy. In addition, a special place is given to the language policy of the country. It is important to note that the language policy was chosen by the Chinese leadership as one of the priorities of foreign policy directions for a number of reasons, which include an increased interest in China after its reaching economic success and the rapid growth in the number of countries which co-operate with China. Moreover, big demand in specialists in the Chinese language is also significant. The attention is focused on the premises of the active implementation of the language policy of the PRC. An important step for the People's Republic of China was the beginning of the policy of reform and opening under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s. In addition, a decisive role played the standardization of the Chinese language and the foundation of the State Office of the People's Republic of China on the spreading of the Chinese language and traditional culture abroad in 1984. The correlation of the new strategy of the Chinese leadership, One Belt - one way and the desire to spread the Chinese language and culture abroad is considered in the article as well. An important place is given to the consideration of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the area of language, to main projects and activities carried out in this area. The language policy of the People's Republic of China is one of the determining factors of the country's foreign policy in the modern world. This linguistic aspect influences both the domestic and foreign policy of the Chinese leadership. The language policy of the PRC is multidirectional: it includes not only the spread of the Chinese language abroad, but also the desire to preserve the languages of ethnic minorities in the country, protection of cultural and linguistic diversity of China. Today, the international position of the country and its image directly depend on the success of the implementation of China's language policy.

Introduction. This work inspects the activities of Russian institutions (government agencies, foundations, public associations and educational organizations) as instruments of soft power in the field of the dissemination of the Russian language and culture in Spain. The pre-requisites of establishing the language strategy as a foreign policy instrument, the main forms and sphere of activities in promoting and supporting the Russian language in Spain are analyzed in this article. Methods. The comparative historical method is used to substantiate the aspects of the formation and development of the language policy program of the Russian Federation in Spain and other European countries in the historical retrospective. The systematic approach is used to formulate a holistic view of the policy of promoting the Russian language and culture in Spain as an instrument of soft power. Also, the institutional and neo-institutional approaches are used to identify formal and informal institutions of soft power in the field of popularization of the Russian language and culture in Spain. Analysis. As a result of analyzing the problem, the legal foundations and institutional foundations of the activities of the Russian Federation to popularize the Russian language and culture in Spain have been studied. The main directions and results of the soft power policy in the field of popularizing the Russian language and culture in Spain and their role in creating a positive image of Russia in Spain have also been identified. Results. The study shows that in recent years, thanks to the soft power policy, the Russian Federation has managed to maintain and, in some positions, expand its presence in Spain in the humanitarian and information space.

This article aims at describing the use of drama series as an instruments of soft power, particularly Indian drama series which were aired in Indonesian national television channels. The specific objective of this study is to examine the opinion of Indonesian audiences toward the attractiveness power of the drama series as an instrument of soft power. This research is a descriptive qualitative research using literature study and in depth – interview method. Informants in this study were determined through purposive technique and snowball sampling. Using the concept of soft power, this study found that eventhough Indian drama series are considered quite attractive by Indonesian audiences, not all Indian drama series are able to build a positive image of India. Only the drama series which contains high culture values ??can build positive image of the country. 
 Keyword: India, Indonesia, audiences, drama series, soft power

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa has since 1994 actively participated in multilateral parliamentary diplomacy through inter-parliamentary institutions (IPIs). This article considers parliamentary diplomacy as an instrument of soft power and interrogates the soft power impact of agenda-setting in the context of IPIs. The qualitative analysis of various parliamentary records and other document sources reveals agenda-setting actions by Parliament that can be understood as instruments of soft power that hold positive implications for the state. Challenges to potential soft power gains were also identified. The research was enriched with primary perspectives from interviewed parliamentary members and officials who have consistently served as South African delegates to IPIs. The study provides insights for members of parliament and other policymakers on the merits and modalities of employing agenda-setting within multilateral parliamentary diplomacy as a soft power tool of the state.

In this article, we explore and problematize the coming out discourses of Ricky Martin and Tiziano Ferro’s through a creative (critical) discourse analysis. We first contextualize the historicity of Ricky Martin and Tiziano Ferro’s artistic careers and argue that their coming out process is a privileged laboratory to understand the ways strategies and tactics of discourses are deployed. Second, through a Critical Discourse Analysis and collaborative writing inquiry approach, we present a creative fictional dialogue to showcase our analysis. This can be called creative (critical) discourse analysis. Third, we further reflect and theorize about these coming out discourses using Queer Theory, Governability, and the concept of Glory and the Media as privileged spaces for power. This will lead us to question the centered subject or a solid identity, the manifestations of coming out discourses, and the role of Glory and the Media in the socialization process.

This paper contributes to the development of a critical realist approach to discourse analysis by combining aspects of ‘critical discourse analysis’ (CDA) and ‘the morphogenetic/morphostatic approach’ (M/M). Unlike poststructuralist discourse theory, CDA insists on the maintenance of two distinctions: (i) between discourse and other aspects of social reality; (ii) between structure and agency. However, CDA lacks clarity on these distinctions. M/M, on the other hand, offers a coherent modelling of these distinctions that can underpin the application of CDA. The paper begins by introducing CDA, M/M and the existing literature on critical realist discourse analysis. It then establishes the M/M model of social change within CDA’s existing social theory by focusing on ‘analytical dualism’ and ‘social practice’. Finally, the paper locates the concept of discourse within M/M’s model of social change by theorizing discourse as one of four objective structures of meaning.

In recent years, FIFA, as a global organization in the realm of football, has assumed a role beyond merely organizing football tournaments and has transformed into one of the influential actors in global legal, political, and cultural domains. One of the key tools of this institution in exercising power is its disciplinary regulations; regulations that, on the surface, are formulated to preserve order but intrinsically embody discourses of legitimacy, domination, and representation. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to conduct a critical analysis of these regulations with a focus on their discursive functions within the global sports legal system. This study was carried out qualitatively, employing the critical discourse analysis approach. The complete text of FIFA’s Disciplinary Regulations (2023) was analyzed as the primary dataset. The theoretical framework was a combination of Norman Fairclough’s and Teun van Dijk’s models, emphasizing the linguistic, semantic, and social dimensions of the text. The analyses indicated that FIFA’s disciplinary regulations, beyond their legal-textual nature, function as instruments for reproducing authority, controlling narratives, setting boundaries of legitimacy, and silencing opposing voices. Concepts such as justice, equality, or ethics are utilized primarily in the service of authoritarian order rather than structural reform. FIFA’s disciplinary regulations have transformed the legal order into an instrument of soft power and discursive control. In the absence of transparency and genuine participation, this order is largely symbolic and reproduces inequalities. Hence, discursive analysis of these regulations provides a pathway to uncover the hidden layers of domination within the global sports legal system.

Modern video games, due to their interactive nature and high level of immersion, have become more than just a form of entertainment. They constitute a complex medium that reflects and transforms political and philosophical ideas, modeling social conflicts and testing the boundaries of individual freedom. This paper explores video games as platforms of political socialization, analyzing their role in shaping worldviews, collective identity, and ideological norms under conditions of digitalization. The research focuses on key philosophical and political themes presented in digital games—such as free will, moral choice, identity, and power—and investigates how narrative structures, gameplay mechanics, and online communities contribute to the reproduction or transformation of political values. Particular attention is paid to case studies of popular and narratively complex projects, including Cyberpunk 2077, Metro: Exodus, Counter-Strike 2, Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and Battlefield 1. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative content analysis and case analysis, drawing on political philosophy, social theory, and philosophy of technology. The novelty of this research lies in its comprehensive approach, combining theoretical reflection with empirical analysis of specific game projects, in order to evaluate the potential of video games as instruments of cultural diplomacy, soft power, and ideological influence. The results indicate that video games increasingly act as laboratories of digital experience, where values are tested, social roles are reproduced, and interaction with authority is modeled. Thus, video games should be regarded not only as cultural artifacts but also as active mechanisms of political socialization in the digital era.

Critical Policy Discourse Analysis bridges the literature on critical discourse analysis (CDA) and critical policy analysis to provide a practical guide on how to combine these major approaches to critical social science. The volume gives a clear introduction to concepts and analytical procedures for critical policy discourse analysis. Utilising ten international case studies, the authors explain and critically reflect upon the methods and theories that they have used to successfully integrate CDA with critical policy studies across a diverse range of policy issues. Case studies are used to explore issues in economics, health, education, crisis management, the environment, language and energy policy. Analysing these through discursive methodological approaches in the traditions of CDA, social semiotics and discourse theory, this book connects this discursive methodology systematically to the field of critical policy studies. This is an essential read for researchers wishing to practically combine methods of CDA with critical policy studies. It provides key insights for politics scholars looking to gain a more in-depth understanding of the impact and analysis of discourse.

This research aims to investigate the relationship between critical reading abilities and critical discourse analysis (CDA) competencies among future 21st century educators, emphasizing the critical necessity for these educators to possess such skills in today's demanding educational landscape. A sample of 70 prospective teachers was analyzed to determine the interconnection between their abilities in critical reading abilities and CDA, with an exploration into how one skill may influence the other. Additionally, the study examines the role of cognitive style—specifically, field-independent and field-dependent thinking—as a moderating factor in this relationship. Findings indicate a significant positive impact of CDA capabilities on critical reading abilities, suggesting that proficiency in analyzing discourse critically enhances one's ability to read with a critical eye. Furthermore, the study reveals no significant difference in CDA and critical reading abilities between participants categorized as field-independent thinkers versus those identified as field-dependent thinkers. These outcomes highlight the need for further research to explore additional factors that may affect the development of critical reading and discourse analysis skills. The study concludes with a call for educational strategies that integrate both critical reading and CDA competencies, considering the varied cognitive styles of learners.