NARRATIVES OF THREAT AND POWER IN ELECTRONIC MEDIA: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF U.S.- CHINA COLD WAR CHRONICLES

Abstract

The escalating geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China has, in turn, created competing narratives of threat and power, discussed in the public eye largely through electronic media. This study examines how government officials in both the U.S. and China discursively construct and circulate Cold War narratives through their language and communication in official statements. Using Fairclough's three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study delves into the lexical items and discursive practices to understand ideological meanings behind the words. The data consists of electronic media press briefings and public addresses from the international and domestic election campaigns from March 2020 to April 2024. The data is analysed qualitatively using text and context-based analysis. The findings suggest that U.S. government officials draw on more negative’s lexical items (like aggression, coercion and security threat) to construct China as a challenger to liberal order while Chinese government officials draw more on more favorable lexical items (like peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit and cooperation) to promote a counter-narrative of harmony and legitimacy. Both parties engage in strategic discursive practices of othering, legitimization and moral evaluation in order to perpetuate their ideological positioning. The study concludes that language is a significant instrument of geopolitical influence and shapes the ways in which understanding reproduces a space of dominance in the global communicative field.

Keywords: Threat, power,U.S.-China, cold-war