Aditi Bhatia

Critical discourse analysis of political press conferences

This study of political press conferences allows a closer look at diplomatic talk to communicate political differences in a positive way to smooth out socio-political and ideological discrepancies that often divide prominent political figures. Taking a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, this article analyses textual data from press conferences involving the former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the US President George W. Bush, who come from different ideological backgrounds, also sharing differences in other dimensions such as age, experience, economic status, socio-political influence and political objectives. The findings reveal three major themes: positivity for the reinforcement of mutual trust, respect and progress; influence and power for subtle persuasion; and evasion to hedge or avoid responses to probing and inconvenient questions from the media.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Report: The Hybridization of a “Confused” Genre (2007–2011)

Research problem: This study investigates the characteristics of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which are discursive attempts at creating positive impact and indicate to readers the process of business management in society. Research questions: (1) What is the intended purpose and function of the CSR reports taken from some of the most dominant corporations in the oil, banking, and aviation industries in the US and China, and how and to what extent do these reports meet the expectations of the international discourse community? (2) Are there any differences in the discursive construction of the CSR reports taken from the different industries? If so, what are these differences, and why might they exist? Literature review: Contrasting CSR practices in China and the US are appropriate because of their economic power, and rigorous CSR reporting practices. According to previous research, CSR practices in China are mandatory for state-owned enterprises, but voluntary in the US. Interdiscursivity, the appropriation of established generic resources across genres and practices to create new forms, provides a framework for exploring differences in reports between the countries. Critical discourse analysis (analyzing discourse as social practice) and genre analysis (analyzing discourse as genre), provide methods for exploring these differences. Methodology: Using discourse analysis, this study analyzed six samples of CSRs, three from Chinese corporations, three from American corporations. Samples were selected through rigorous online search for top companies in oil, aviation, and banking. The study involved a general content analysis of the overall CSR reports using genre and critical discourse analysis, and then more focused analysis of sections on the environment. Results and discussion: The main function of the CSR reports analyzed seems to be the promotion of the company image. Although all analyzed reports drew on the discourse of goodwill and promoted company engagement with society, CSR reports from the oil industry employed discourse of self-justification more, attributing company actions to external constraints. CSR, as a generic construct in its hybrid form, seems a “typification” of three interdiscourses-discourses of promotion, goodwill, and self-justification-sociopragmatically co-constructed within an interdiscursive space. The purity of this genre lies in its hybridization, primarily in the integration of promotional cues in reporting genre, illustrating how interdiscursivity can explore the interrelationship between discursive and professional practices. The limitation of the study was the limited choice of countries and sample size. Future research could compare reporting practices of companies with newly instituted CSR practices with companies in countries with a longer history of CSR reporting.

Construction of discursive illusions in the ‘Umbrella Movement’

Using the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong as an example, this article explores the construction of discursive illusions in the South China Morning Post’s (SCMP) coverage of the event under discussion. More specifically, the article investigates how a multi-perspective analytical approach, namely that of the discourse of illusion, can allow a closer look at how and to what extent abstract constructs with significant social implications are discursively formed. In this respect, the framework draws on three interrelated components: historicity (habitus as key to the creation of discursive illusions, dealing as it does with the growth and change of perceptions over time), linguistic and semiotic action (subjective conceptualisations of the world give rise to certain linguistic and semiotic actions, often through metaphorical and dominant rhetoric) and the degree of social impact (as language and actions of individuals and groups engender many categories and stereotypes). The analysis reveals the use of various linguistic and rhetorical tools, including insinuation, temporal referencing, metaphor, recontextualisation and (re)framing by the SCMP, the most prominent English newspaper in Hong Kong, in its creation of multiple identity categories.

“Occupy Central” and the rise of discursive illusions: a discourse analytical study

Abstract Drawing on Hong Kong’s “Occupy Central” movement, this paper explores the construction of discursive illusions in both China Daily and South China Morning Post’s (SCMP) contrasting coverage of the event. More specifically, the paper investigates how a multi-perspective analytical approach can enable a deeper study of how and to what extent abstract constructs with significant social implications are discursively formed. In order to do so, the framework draws on a three-pronged approach: historicity (habitus as key to the creation of discursive illusions, dealing with the change of perceptions over time); linguistic and semiotic action (subjective conceptualizations of the world to give rise to linguistic and semiotic actions, often through metaphorical and dominant rhetoric); and the degree of social impact (as language and actions engender many categories and stereotypes). The analysis reveals that data from both newspapers draws on similar linguistic and rhetorical tools, including temporal referencing, metaphor, category-pairings, and recontextualization in the discursive construction of a “double contrastive identity” (Leudar et al. [2004], On membership categorization: “Us”, “them” and “doing violence” in political discourse. Discourse & Society 15(2/3). 243–266.) of the movement and its participants in diametrically opposed ways around themes such as law versus lawlessness, victim versus aggressor, etc.

Fabricating the American Dream in US media portrayals of Syrian refugees: A discourse analytical study

The months preceding and following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States have incited furious debate about the authenticity of media discourse in the shaping of reality (cf. fake news), including in particular the reporting of refugees from predominantly Muslim regions and their resettlement in Western nations. Much of this debate is rooted in how opposing discourse clans, such as liberal and conservative ideologies, construct a narrative of nationhood around contested views of refugees. Examining mainstream and alternative media from a critical discourse analytic perspective, the article uncovers how two key narratives about the Syrian refugee crisis emerge when the media attempt to orient their respective audiences to government policy through the discursive formation of the American Dream. Drawing on aspects of historicity, linguistic and semiotic action, and social impact, the analysis of the data reveals a discursive fracas between a humanistic perspective on the crisis that exploits a banal understanding of the American Dream and a more dichotomous narrative that homogenises refugees as a threat to the American way of life. These observations add to the growing body of literature that questions the ways in which the media discursively shapes, and is shaped by, political ideologies.

International genre, local flavour: Analysis of PetroChina's Corporate and Social Responsibility Report

espanolA pesar de la globalizacion reciente del comercio y la industria bajo el alero de la Organizacion Mundial del Comercio, y de la preocupacion de la comunidad internacional por el calentamiento global, el cambio climatico y otros problemas medioambientales; las empresas tienen maneras muy diferentes de abordar las responsabilidades y obligaciones relacionadas al desarrollo industrial sustentable y de informar sobre sus gestiones y propositos. En Occidente, los informes de responsabilidad social empresarial son un requerimiento para toda empresa, en otras partes del mundo, sin embargo se observa poco interes en cumplir con esta obligacion. En la Republica Popular China, por ejemplo, el gobierno ha incentivado activamente las principales industrias del pais a tomar sus responsabilidades sociales con mayor seriedad y a informar sobre sus gestiones y logros. Sin embargo, hasta ahora no se reportan estudios que investiguen la naturaleza y la funcion de las practicas utilizadas en los informes de responsabilidad social empresarial en ese pais. Este trabajo, que utiliza informes de sostenibilidad de PetroChina como muestra, usa el marco analitico del genero discursivo (Bhatia, 2004, 2008, 2010) para explorar la construccion discursiva de los informes de responsabilidad social empresarial, la razon de dicha estructura y sus funciones comunicativas. El analisis de los recursos linguisticos y retoricos utilizados en el genero ‘informe’ ayuda a revelar el grado en el que tales practicas de divulgacion cumplen con las expectativas de diversos stakeholders, y como la adopcion bastante flexible de las practicas de responsabilidad social empresarial ha generado un discurso hibrido en la que el genero informe se mezcla con expresiones de publicidad y la autojustificacion EnglishIn spite of the recent globalization of trade and industry under the aegis of World Trade Organisation and the current international awareness about global warming, climate change, and other environmental issues, corporations differ significantly in the way, and the extent to which, they fulfil their responsibility and obligations regarding sustainable industrial development and reporting of their actions as well as intentions. There has been considerable awareness in the West about corporate social responsibility reporting, but a relatively modest inclination to meet such obligations is seen in other parts of the world. In the Peoples Republic of China, the government seems to have actively encouraged their key industries to take their social responsibilities more seriously and to report on their actions and achievements, but no studies have reported, so far, the nature and function of corporate social responsibility reporting practices in China. This paper, taking as its data PetroChina’s Sustainability Reports, employs certain specific aspects of genre analytical framework (Bhatia, 2004, 2008, 2010) in order to explore how the corporate social responsibility reports are discursively constructed, why they are constructed in this manner, and what their intended communicative functions are. Analysis of the linguistic and rhetorical resources exploited in this reporting genre helps reveal the extent to which such disclosure practices meet the expectations of various stakeholders, and how the fairly flexible adoption of corporate social responsibility practices has hybridized the reporting genre with expression of promotion and self-justification

International genre, local flavour: Analysis of PetroChina's Sustainability Report

espanolA pesar de la globalizacion reciente del comercio y la industria bajo el alero de la Organizacion Mundial del Comercio, y de la preocupacion de la comunidad internacional por el calentamiento global, el cambio climatico y otros problemas medioambientales; las empresas tienen maneras muy diferentes de abordar las responsabilidades y obligaciones relacionadas al desarrollo industrial sustentable y de informar sobre sus gestiones y propositos. En Occidente, los informes de responsabilidad social empresarial son un requerimiento para toda empresa, en otras partes del mundo, sin embargo se observa poco interes en cumplir con esta obligacion. En la Republica Popular China, por ejemplo, el gobierno ha incentivado activamente las principales industrias del pais a tomar sus responsabilidades sociales con mayor seriedad y a informar sobre sus gestiones y logros. Sin embargo, hasta ahora no se reportan estudios que investiguen la naturaleza y la funcion de las practicas utilizadas en los informes de responsabilidad social empresarial en ese pais. Este trabajo, que utiliza informes de sostenibilidad de PetroChina como muestra, usa el marco analitico del genero discursivo (Bhatia, 2004, 2008, 2010) para explorar la construccion discursiva de los informes de responsabilidad social empresarial, la razon de dicha estructura y sus funciones comunicativas. El analisis de los recursos linguisticos y retoricos utilizados en el genero ‘informe’ ayuda a revelar el grado en el que tales practicas de divulgacion cumplen con las expectativas de diversos stakeholders, y como la adopcion bastante flexible de las practicas de responsabilidad social empresarial ha generado un discurso hibrido en la que el genero informe se mezcla con expresiones de publicidad y la autojustificacion EnglishIn spite of the recent globalization of trade and industry under the aegis of World Trade Organisation and the current international awareness about global warming, climate change, and other environmental issues, corporations differ significantly in the way, and the extent to which, they fulfil their responsibility and obligations regarding sustainable industrial development and reporting of their actions as well as intentions. There has been considerable awareness in the West about corporate social responsibility reporting, but a relatively modest inclination to meet such obligations is seen in other parts of the world. In the Peoples Republic of China, the government seems to have actively encouraged their key industries to take their social responsibilities more seriously and to report on their actions and achievements, but no studies have reported, so far, the nature and function of corporate social responsibility reporting practices in China. This paper, taking as its data PetroChina’s Sustainability Reports, employs certain specific aspects of genre analytical framework (Bhatia, 2004, 2008, 2010) in order to explore how the corporate social responsibility reports are discursively constructed, why they are constructed in this manner, and what their intended communicative functions are. Analysis of the linguistic and rhetorical resources exploited in this reporting genre helps reveal the extent to which such disclosure practices meet the expectations of various stakeholders, and how the fairly flexible adoption of corporate social responsibility practices has hybridized the reporting genre with expression of promotion and self-justification